Introduction to Racialism

When someone is in the unfortunate position of being in a sociology class, or a diversity training seminar, or reading people like Michael Eric Dyson or Tim Wise, one will most likely be exposed to a self proclaimed “anti-racist” crusader. When someone devotes his or her life and career to uncovering racism, a noble intention, then unfortunately his or her perception of society is likely to center around race. When bad things happen to “people of color,” it is inevitable that someone who professionally looks for racism will find what he or she is looking for.

These people are professional racialists and they use race as the basis for determining policy and interpreting nearly all events. It is their job to provide commentary, write books, and make speeches on a variety of subjects, always considering race to be a primary factor of their conclusions and ideas. Their views naturally revolve around the idea that white racism, institutional racism, etc., are the driving forces of events in our society. According to the professional racialists, all of life has been infected with America’s racist imperialism. From 9/11, to the opposition to the recent health care bill, everything is a result of or is explained in terms of race. There are many famous examples of people holding this perspective such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, or the more esteemed Cornell West and Alan Johnson, and the already mentioned Michael Eric Dyson and Tim Wise.

Of course we should all be anti-racist, but these individuals don’t share the same definition of being anti-racist as most Americans. Everyone in our society is either privileged (whites) or oppressed (“people of color”) because of racism. Since they think the driving force of privilege and oppression is race, naturally their enemies are those who are blind to race (almost always whites). So, according to the racialists, to be blind to race means being blind to racism. To be an overt racist is surely bad to them, but to perpetuate the systematic oppression of an entire race by ignoring it is unforgivable.

As a result, their main targets end up being those who think of themselves as “race-blind.” They have to manufacture a crisis to make it appear like these people are threats to society. To most people, being race-blind seems like a noble goal and someone who is truly race-blind can only, at the very worst, be insensitive or awkward. So to show the alleged dangers of this group, “anti-racists” create an illusion of suppression that can supposedly only be eliminated by being race-conscious. Their arguments include that these race-blind whites possess deep seeded racist views and will discriminate against minorities unknowingly, and that almost all whites systematically hold down minorities in some way. Such a convoluted view of racism requires that they educate seemingly harmless people about the grave threat they represent. To gather evidence they must view events and policies in terms of race whether they have to do with race or not. So, what is the main problem with racialism? While their stated intentions are agreeable, their premises are wrong, their “evidence” is bogus, their conclusions are false, and their solutions are destructive. In the coming months, all of this will be discussed in detail.