Confusing racial paranoia with racism (op-ed)
Recently, the Dallas Morning News featured a story titled: A Black Family ‘did everything America said we should’ but still endures racism daily.
The reporter, a white woman, introduced her readers to a wealthy black family. The parents met at Harvard Law School and they raise their three sons in a five bedroom home with a pool and tennis court.
The father is a partner at a big Dallas law firm. He grew up in a military family in Colorado “where he was one of the only black kids in town”.
The mother is a United Methodist pastor with her own strategic consulting company. Her father was a college professor at Harvard and her mother was assistant director of financial aid at Tufts University.
Now the story centers around the Dallas police shooting, when five officers were shot and killed by a black man while they were on duty securing a march against police shootings that occurred in other states.
The wife called the husband at the law firm, told him about the police murders, and made him promise to stay overnight at the office, because at the office “he’s safe, well-known and well-regarded, out on the streets … He’ll just be another black man, a potential target on this night of fear, fury, and revenge.”
The reporter wrote, “The drive takes only ten minutes. He would probably be fine. That small uncertainty captures what it’s like to be African-American today.”
The wife said, “We did everything America said we should do,” and yet, the reporter continued, when they step outside their usual circles in Dallas -- they cannot escape racism in America. No matter their credentials or accomplishments they’re still black.
“We’re unprotected out in the world,” the wife said.
But what exactly are they unprotected from?
The reporter explained: It’s not that they have been harassed by a rogue police officer … It’s the thousands of other ways they are made to feel less than. A hotel employee ignored their family at the front desk, only to help a white customer in line behind them. A white guy at the airport rolled over (the wife’s) foot with his suitcase and refused to apologize. Kids at school joked that their son and other black students looked like a gang.
When will it stop? The reporter asked.
It will stop when reporters stop confusing racial paranoia with racism. Racial paranoia, in this case, is the fear of being treated like non-accomplished blacks, personal prejudice can hurt feelings but it’s not racism. The questions concerning racism in the 21st century is to what degree does it hinder human development or prevent individual achievement.
These insignificant slights hinder and prevent nothing.
Now imagine if a boy in a war-torn, famine stricken, region of sub-Sahara Africa heard about this black family in Dallas. He would think -- wow -- in America, a black man can go to an Ivy League school, be a lawyer, and own a huge home with a pool. Do you think he would refuse a chance to come to America because of the racial slights described by the reporter?
Now imagine a girl born in a region of the world where she is denied an education because of her gender and she heard about this black family in Dallas. She would think -- wow -- in America a woman can go to a university and become a religious leader. Do you think she would be concerned about someone not apologizing to her in an airport?
Now imagine when black children in the United States read this story about a wealthy black family in Dallas that endures racism daily. What are they going to think? No matter how successful they become in America, they’ll always suffer some form of degradation because they’re black.
And the paranoia is passed down, which can prevent ambition.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 2/22/17
The reporter, a white woman, introduced her readers to a wealthy black family. The parents met at Harvard Law School and they raise their three sons in a five bedroom home with a pool and tennis court.
The father is a partner at a big Dallas law firm. He grew up in a military family in Colorado “where he was one of the only black kids in town”.
The mother is a United Methodist pastor with her own strategic consulting company. Her father was a college professor at Harvard and her mother was assistant director of financial aid at Tufts University.
Now the story centers around the Dallas police shooting, when five officers were shot and killed by a black man while they were on duty securing a march against police shootings that occurred in other states.
The wife called the husband at the law firm, told him about the police murders, and made him promise to stay overnight at the office, because at the office “he’s safe, well-known and well-regarded, out on the streets … He’ll just be another black man, a potential target on this night of fear, fury, and revenge.”
The reporter wrote, “The drive takes only ten minutes. He would probably be fine. That small uncertainty captures what it’s like to be African-American today.”
The wife said, “We did everything America said we should do,” and yet, the reporter continued, when they step outside their usual circles in Dallas -- they cannot escape racism in America. No matter their credentials or accomplishments they’re still black.
“We’re unprotected out in the world,” the wife said.
But what exactly are they unprotected from?
The reporter explained: It’s not that they have been harassed by a rogue police officer … It’s the thousands of other ways they are made to feel less than. A hotel employee ignored their family at the front desk, only to help a white customer in line behind them. A white guy at the airport rolled over (the wife’s) foot with his suitcase and refused to apologize. Kids at school joked that their son and other black students looked like a gang.
When will it stop? The reporter asked.
It will stop when reporters stop confusing racial paranoia with racism. Racial paranoia, in this case, is the fear of being treated like non-accomplished blacks, personal prejudice can hurt feelings but it’s not racism. The questions concerning racism in the 21st century is to what degree does it hinder human development or prevent individual achievement.
These insignificant slights hinder and prevent nothing.
Now imagine if a boy in a war-torn, famine stricken, region of sub-Sahara Africa heard about this black family in Dallas. He would think -- wow -- in America, a black man can go to an Ivy League school, be a lawyer, and own a huge home with a pool. Do you think he would refuse a chance to come to America because of the racial slights described by the reporter?
Now imagine a girl born in a region of the world where she is denied an education because of her gender and she heard about this black family in Dallas. She would think -- wow -- in America a woman can go to a university and become a religious leader. Do you think she would be concerned about someone not apologizing to her in an airport?
Now imagine when black children in the United States read this story about a wealthy black family in Dallas that endures racism daily. What are they going to think? No matter how successful they become in America, they’ll always suffer some form of degradation because they’re black.
And the paranoia is passed down, which can prevent ambition.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 2/22/17
Comments
Post a Comment