Using Racism as a Device
[Reprinted from Issues & Views Fall/Winter 1996]
In writing Racism Or Attitude: The Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation
and Self-Esteem, James Robinson set out to learn why so many American
blacks live more dysfunctional lives today than 30 or 40 years ago. Why, he
wondered, in a social environment that is measurably better than it was 50
years ago, are so many blacks worse off? Along the way, in his search, he
discovered lots of excuses and myths.
He kept bumping up against the facts. For example, in examining whether
racism is to blame for so many young black men incarcerated in prison, he
learned that, while the criminal justice system appears to be somewhat racially
biased in its sentencing practices, the number of blacks imprisoned for serious
crimes is proportionate to the reporting of those crimes. In other words, the
numbers of crimes reported by blacks themselves in their communities closely
relate to the numbers of incarcerated black men.
Robinson concludes that, rather than mulling over questions about fairness,
"a more probing question would be why so many African Americans commit
crimes."And, he further asks, "If racial discrimination in
employment, housing, and the criminal justice system are to be blamed for a
high crime rate in black ghettos, why wasn't crime worse back in the 1930s,
1940's, and 1950s," when blacks were severely discriminated against?
These prickly questions and more are raised and discussed by Robinson. More
important than white racism, which he says "has undergone a number of
permutations," is the "even more serious problem" of black
attitudes about race.
Robinson describes how certain blacks use racism as a device. A stubborn
belief in racism as the main obstacle to black progress binds all blacks
together, "in a way that socioeconomic status does not." Believing
that racism is the major source of black woes, says Robinson, "has come to
define blackness in a way that allows all black people, from Oprah Winfrey to
the lowest black person on the totem pole, to feel a sense of unity." This
false notion especially assuages the guilt of the middle class black, who can
say, "No matter how successful I become, I can still say to my lower-class
black brother, 'Hey, I'm not doing so good; I am still suffering because I am
black.'"
While the middle class black uses racism to suit his purposes, lower class
blacks use racism as an excuse for not trying harder or for not trying at all.
Robinson writes, "Racism has become a term that all African Americans can
use to explain whatever problems they confront because it absolves them of
personal responsibility." In this way, all problems are seen as coming
from outside the self. Robinson highlights prison inmates who call themselves
"political" prisoners, so they can reject all personal responsibility
for their criminal actions.
The book probes such subjects as the impact of class differences and
values, black reliance on affirmative action, prospects for economic
empowerment, relations between blacks and other ethnic groups, the similarities
between early black nationalists and black conservatives, and what Robinson
calls, "the declining significance of integration."
Racism or Attitude: The Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation and
Self-Esteem can be purchased from Amazon.com.
Copyright © 1996 Issues & Views
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