{"id":36222,"date":"2024-02-29T14:48:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T22:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36222"},"modified":"2024-02-29T14:48:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T22:48:06","slug":"i-wish-i-had-more-time-to-try-to-understand-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/i-wish-i-had-more-time-to-try-to-understand-this\/","title":{"rendered":"I Wish I Had More Time to Try to Understand This"},"content":{"rendered":"

During our syntopical meetings we were asked if we had more time into what we might dig more deeply (I am paraphrasing the question). To answer, I would like to spend more time with this book, Not So Black and White<\/em> by Kenan Malik. I am intrigued by the history he provides about how the concept of race evolved, but in only being able to do an inspectional reading, I am having difficulty wrapping my mind around it.<\/p>\n

Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He writes, \u201cIt is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as ineradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race.\u201d[1]<\/a> He then goes on to explain the history of how this came to be, namely that the intellectuals and elites \u201cbegan dividing the world into distinct races to explain and justify the differential treatment of certain peoples.\u201d[2]<\/a> In other words, it wasn\u2019t skin color that divided people, it was one\u2019s social class.[3]<\/a> As someone who grew up in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s, the idea of race as a skin color has been ingrained me making it difficult to comprehend a concept of race that is based on social status rather than skin color.<\/p>\n

Trying to Understand Anti-Racism<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the podcast Triggernometry<\/em>, Malik discusses how these days while \u201cin your face\u201d racism may not be as prevalent, racism still abounds. The reason for this (if I understand what he was saying), is that our tradition of \u201cradical universalism\u201d which used to mean, equal rights for all, has shifted to identitarianism.[4]<\/a> I will come back to this idea of universalism versus identitarianism, but first, I would like to address what Malik says about anti-racism.<\/p>\n

Malik says, \u201cAnti-racism used to mean the failure to treat people equally.\u201d I got curious and looked up the current definition of \u201canti-racism\u201d and found a few definitions. The first one comes from Alberta Civil Liberties Research Center; \u201cthe active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.\u201d[5]<\/a> In his book, How to be an Anti-Racist<\/em>, Ibram Kendi defines an antiracist as, \u201cOne who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.”[6]<\/a> Furthermore, Kendi writes, “The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘antiracist.’ What’s the difference? One endorses either the idea of racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on these definitions, it seems that to be an anti-racist one must actively work to change laws and policies that allow racial inequity. However, in a 2021 study it was found that the term \u201cantiracist\u201d is used most often by white liberals who want to appear to be good people. [8]<\/a>(Again, I paraphrase here but I think you get the point.) The study finds that \u201cthe whites who self-describe as \u201canti-racist\u201d may be more likely to self-identify as \u2018very liberal,\u2019 but their liberalism is of a more generic variety. They support progressive racial policies (on surveys), oppose old-fashioned racism, and would confront a friend who told a racist joke. Yet they are also strongly more likely than other Americans to identify with color-blindness, suggesting that such Americans, characterized by what we call \u2018generic liberalism,\u2019 simply affirm any views that sound racially progressive. I feel personally convicted. (Insert here: face palm emoji.)<\/p>\n

Identity Groups Leave Behind the Most Vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later, in his book, and in the podcast, Malik claims, identity groups or racial communities are often seen as homogenous groups when they are anything but. Believing racial communities to be homogenous has proven to be disastrous because in doing so, they abandon the people on the bottom, the most vulnerable, the lower class. He uses the example of how the \u201cBlack community\u201d has been made up of people who share the attribute of black skin but who hail from different places in our world. He points out that in the UK, there has traditionally been a class difference between Black people of African descent versus Black people from Caribbean descent, leaving Black Caribbean students behind in education.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

I Still Have Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe Malik is arguing that we should return to the tradition of radical universalism and in doing so, address the class divide which leads to so much inequality. While I don\u2019t disagree with Malik, his argument does bring up many questions for me. Three of those questions are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Is being \u201ccolorblind\u201d a facet of a radical universalistic perspective? With the rise of identitarianism, \u201ccolorblindness\u201d has been seen as the opposite of being anti-racist.<\/li>\n
  2. In the podcast Malik and his hosts discuss the importance of understanding the real problem. I think he was trying to say that we must go back to a radical universalistic tradition because identitarianism will not address the real problem. Is it possible for radical universalism and identitarianism to simultaneously work to heal racism or are they such opposites that to work in parallel to one another would be impossible?<\/li>\n
  3. Based on the writings of Max Weber and others we have read this last year, does capitalism have such a grip on our culture that healing the class divide (which according to Malik is the real problem) such a wicked problem it can never be completely solved?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Fukuyama wrote, \u201cEvery person has an inherent dignity and even more than economic advancement we want that dignity to be recognized.\u201d[10]<\/a> As many others have pointed out in their blogs, racism is a wicked problem. I don\u2019t know how we will get there but until we are able to recognize the dignity of each human being and treat them accordingly this wicked problem will remain so.<\/p>\n

    I told you, I need more time to dig deeper with this book and these ideas.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Kenan Malik, Not So Black and White;<\/em> : A History of Race From White Supremacy to Identity Politics<\/em>. London, Hurst, 2023, 14.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Ibid, 8.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> Ibid, 9-10.<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Triggernometry Podcast, What We Get Wrong About Race, Kenan Malik.<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, <\/em><\/strong>NAC International Perspectives: Women and Global Solidarity, https:\/\/library.fandm.edu\/c.php?g=1045768&p=7588278<\/a>, accessed February 29, 2024.<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Ibram Kendi, How to be an Antiracis<\/em>t, London, England Bodley:\u00a0 Head, 2019, 13.<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Ibid, 9.<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Perry, S. L., Frantz, K. E., & Grubbs, J. B. (2021). Who Identifies as Anti-Racist? Racial Identity, Color-Blindness, and Generic Liberalism<\/em>. Socius, 7. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/23780231211052945.<\/p>\n

    [9]<\/a> Triggernometry Podcast, What We Get Wrong About Race<\/em>, Kenan Malik, 43:56.<\/p>\n

    [10]<\/a> Fukuyama Identity:\u00a0 The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment,<\/em> MacMillan Publishers, New York, Scribd, 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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