Getting people to understand the importance of history in the context of racism...
Sometimes I find it's been startlingly difficult to get people to understand the importance of history in the context of racism. It's when I get into these kinds of discussions with people when we start to see the wheat separate itself from the chaff, when those with more hidden racist beliefs surface.
I've had discussions with people who I would not have otherwise labeled as racist who, when we got into the details startled me by bringing up the racism within communities of POC. Either discussions bout how "cracker" is a racist term, or how people within communities of colour have racist views of other racial groups, say how Asian people's may be viewed by some in black communities.
I am of course not arguing that POC can't be racist and indeed I myself have experienced first hand comments from POC that were very racist. I remember a black coworker I worked years back saying some extremely disparaging remarks about Asian people's taking over North America. But here's the thing. These discussions never come up in isolation. They are almost always raised as counter points when racism comes up as a general topic of discussion.
The people raising these arguments often aren't even those you would expect to be racist, I have sadly had such discussions with those I know well enough to know aren't openly racist ever and indeed otherwise hold otherwise kind and progressive values, and yet they harbour racist views.
The central point I've always gotten stuck on with them that has always shocked me is their unwillingness to factor in historical context. Their unwillingness to admit that the N word carries with it the full force of hundreds of years of slavery, systematic oppression and dehumanization. If I use the N word I'm swinging with a sledge hammer. By comparison cracker carries with it nothing expect that individual persons anger. There is a HUGE difference. I've literally had discussions with people who wanted to argue that both are intended to be similarly derogatory and hence both carry the same weight. You can't wipe away history and doing so is a racist act in of itself. The fact that only a handful of generations back my ancestors used to OWN your ancestors is a fact that rings down through history and continues to have impacts to this very day. The socioeconomic and systemic racism built into the structures of our society are direct descendants of that period. We forget that hate begats hate. We teach others to hate by hating. So is there an issues of racism within communities of colour, yes perhaps there is but only in the larger context of them being second class citizens. To ignore this fact and attempt to artificially level the uneven playing field is an act of racism in itself.
