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Edited on Sun Oct-02-11 09:06 AM by Empowerer
There has been an incredible amount of heat with little light regarding the issue of racism, prejudice and bias. For some DUers, any suggestion that some white progressives are holding President Obama to a higher standard than they would a white President is tantamount to calling them a racist, something that is deeply and genuinely offensive to them. On the other hand, some DUers have been trying to explain that: 1) pointing out that some progressives are holding the President to a higher standard is not the same as accusing all progressives of doing so; 2) prejudice and bias is NOT the equivalent of racism; and 3) even the most well-meaning people can be biased and prejudiced, even if they don't hate blacks or wish to see us fail.
First, let's define our terms. Prejudice is the act of prejudging someone based on assumptions made because of their race. Such assumptions can be negative or positive - e.g., assuming a black person is poor or more prone to crime vs. assuming a black man is a better athlete or assuming that a black President will be more progressive solely because he is black. Decisions based on prejudice are made all of the time by even well-meaning people. Prejudice does not necessarily include the assumption of racial superiority or inferiority.
Racism, on the other hand, is a specific kind of prejudice - a belief in the inherent inferiority of another race, coupled with the power and desire to subjugate or otherwise negatively impact others as a result.
In my view, all people have prejudices and biases. It is human nature. But everyone who is prejudiced is not racist. Nevertheless, whether intentional or not, prejudice can have serious impacts on others. One need not be an out-and-out racist who hates black people in order to be prejudiced, biased or to apply a double standard to us. Often that double standard and bias is based on what one believes is completely benevolent motives.
I'll give you an example. Earlier in my career, I worked in an office where I was constantly held to a higher standard by my bosses - not because they didn't like black people - but because they didn't know many of us and, as the first black person in my position, I was given greater scrutiny because they were "concerned" that I might not succeed. So, for example, whenever I was given a new matter to handle, I was watched very closely to see how I managed it - to the point that it was difficult to do my job. If I made a mistake - as all of the new employees did - the mistake became a virtual federal case. On the other hand, my white colleagues' mistakes were brushed off as no big deal - usually with a story about similar mistakes that senior people had made as if the younger employee was now a member of the "Club."
"Yuk, yuk, yuk - you think what YOU did was bad. Let me tell you about how *I* screwed that up when I was where you are! Ha Ha Ha. Don't worry about it kid. It happens to all of us. That' how we learn."
But when I made a mistake, it was a different story. The higher-ups gathered together, discussed it very seriously, brought me in to discuss - and it was never in the "yuk, yuk, yuk - it's how we learn" manner, but in the, "What are we going to do about this? How are we going to explain this to the client? We brought you in here because we have a lot of faith in you, but we are very worried about your ability to succeed" manner.
It was clear to me that they really believed that they had taken a great risk and done me a greater favor by "bringing me in" and that they wanted me not only to perform better than anyone else in my position was expected to so that their "risk" was rewarded, but that they also believed that I should be enormously grateful for giving me the opportunity - opportunities that my white colleagues felt were their due. When I didn't demonstrate appropriate gratefulness to them - for example, whenever I had the nerve to question why they never hired any black secretaries or support staff - they made my life more difficult.
On occasion, I asked why I was being held to a higher standard than my white colleagues and was actually told, "WE aren't holding you to a higher standard. But clients aren't comfortable with you because they aren't as open-minded as we are. So we have to be extra careful to make sure that your work is satisfactory to them." In their view, they weren't discriminating with me based on my race - the CLIENTS were, so they had to go along with them.
As you can imagine, it was a very isolating and difficult situation. As the only black employee in an office of 250, I had no one I could turn to, no one to talk to, no one to give me advice and guidance on how to navigate these difficult waters. Fortunately, I had family, friends and mentors outside of the office who gave me incredible support and made it possible for me to carry on, but the fact that there was no one in my office environment who could mentor or help me was very difficult.
In fact, not only did I not have anyone in my day-to-day workplace who could help me, but I learned early on that any attempt to confide in anyone there could be dangerous. For example, one colleague frequently used racist slurs against Asians - of course, if someone had suggested that he was a bigot, he would have screamed bloody murder. I couldn't take any more and mentioned it to my mentor. The following week, during an office meeting, the senior person said to the group, "It's come to my attention that someone has complained about a colleague using a term that she finds offensive." Great, I thought. He's going to tell him to stop and remind us all that this kind of language is inappropriate. Wrong. He went on - "This has always been a collegial environment and it's important that we keep it that way. We all need to be more tolerant and learn that sometimes people say things we don't like. So we can't go running to daddy crying whenever someone says something that hurts our feelings." In other words, racial slurs weren't the problem but *I* was causing dissension by objecting to them. And I would be called out in front of everyone as a troublemaker if I did. Message received loud and clear. I'd better shut up and put up with bigotry if I wanted to get anywhere in that place.
Yet not one of these people that engaged in this kind of behavior would ever believe that they were bigoted, prejudiced or racist. They were nice people. Many of them were Democrats. They have black "friends," they donated to the Boys and Girls Club, etc. But their behavior every day applied and reinforced a double standard that deeply impacted the black people over whom they had control.
Bigotry does not require malice, hatred or a desire to see black people fail. Sometimes it even manifests itself in a supposed desire to help us succeed.
I hope this helps folks better understand these issues.
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