In my blog for this week, I am going to discuss the article
that we read for last class about silent racism. In this article Trepagnier talks about the
presence of racism in our society today and the importance of acknowledging
it. The thing that struck me most and
the thing I personally struggle with is silence racism. Trepagnier says that silent racism is broken
up in two forms stereotypical images and paternalistic. The stereotypical image branch is based on
the misinformation about blacks that are prevalent in our society. Whereas the paternalistic branch stems from superiority
that is found in some relationships between whites and black (Trepagnier, pg. 6).
In the spirit of being honest as a
white person I have been exposed to negative images and thoughts about black
people since I have been very young. I
consider myself not racist and have no personal stigmas for races other than my
own, but I can’t help but make preconceived judgments about people sometimes
that go against how I truly think or my morals.
Trepagnier suggests in her article that ALL white people are
racist. But at the same time who can
blame us. In my opinion, racism is
something that is learned and that is exactly what she is suggesting. It is instilled in the “white” culture to
have judgments about others who are not like us.
After reading this article I thought
about myself, my family, and my generation.
The first thought that I had about this topic was the civil rights
movement and in thinking critically about it, it really was not that long ago
when it happened. The mind set of those
that lived during that time are still very much alive in even my
generation. Our grandparents were most
likely the ones that lived through the segregation era’s, they grew up thinking
that whites were better than blacks.
That means our parents inherited and/or were exposed to racism that existed
in those times. Though I do believe our
generation and our parents have developed different beliefs on the topic of
racism and blacks. In terms of silent
racism, it lives inside of us and we need to know why it is there and make
conscious choices to try and avoid making the type of judgments we have been
taught to make.
Lisa R.
Graded Reply #6
ReplyDeleteLisa,
I really enjoyed how you broke down the separate constructs found within Trepagnier’s idea of silent racism. While this was discussed in the article it is often better to view the interpretation of someone other than the other on what this means. When I began reading this article and Trepagnier stated that we are all racist in some form or another I got defensive. This was because I don’t see myself as racist because I do not make racist remarks or support those that do; likewise, I do not wish that others are discriminated against and I would follow the movement to make the necessary changes to remove the barriers in society that generate discrimination. As I began to think about how I react when being approached by a person of color or upon entering neighborhoods, stores, or other places where the minority groups frequent, I realized that I was racist; at least in some ways.
I would agree that it is difficult to part from the stigma that was generated and perpetuated by family, friends and society while growing up. How would it be best to keep in mind the silent racism? Many times reactions occur without our knowledge. These microemotions can affect another before we’ve realized the harm. If we have to consciously focus on making the best non-racial choices when interacting with an individual of a different race, but allow ourselves to relax this in the presence of another Caucasian, then is that also a form of racism? If we are capable of sliding our continuum toward “less racist”, then there would be such a benefit for generations to come. The true question lies within ourselves on how best to slide that scale.