Posted by Tina
The word systemic has been used to describe America as being a racist nation. This systemic problem is said to be more difficult to overcome than pockets of racism because it’s form is subtle. My hearing of these assertions is that it is believed that white Americans are all racists. Others have asserted that is not what it means. So, is this systemic problem a problem that exists throughout the “whole” of the nation…or not?
Definition of systemic from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press:
specialized biology A systemic drug, disease, or poison reaches and has an effect on the whole of a body or a plant and not just one part of it.
formal A systemic problem or change is a basic one, experienced by the whole of an organization or a country and not just particular parts of it(emphasis mine)
Given the definition of systemic, how do I listen to those making the assertion of a systemic race problem without getting they think all whites in America are racists? Remember, left activists have said that people of color have no power and therefore cannot be racist. Words mean things. Given the definition of systemic this accusation is insulting to me. It insults my intelligence and insults my sense of integrity. To believe the insult is to believe that white people are fundamentally different (other). To believe the insult is to believe there are no opportunities for people of color to find work, attend college or make a home. To believe the insult is to believe that white Americans haven’t bent over backwards to arrange opportunities and to be inclusive and open. To believe the insult is to believe that America did not put a black man in the president’s chair…twice!
Absurd!
I learned long ago in a university “Psychology Of Racism” class that “systemic racism” is what you use to identify racism when you cannot find any actual racism.
Of course that was not the instructor’s intent, but that was the effect.
Brilliant!
The farther we get from the 1960’s the more race hustlers scramble to keep the issue alive. One example that nearly floored me was when I read the words, “white Hispanic,” a term I had never heard before but served to create a (white) racial component in the Zimmerman/Martin case.
White Hispanic has been used on censuses before, hasn’t it? I know when applying for jobs I’ve seen the term before, along with non-white Hispanic.
That said, I’d never seen it used in the media before, and it was bizarre to apply it to Zimmerman. While I think Zimmerman is a violence-prone a-hole who should be in jail for manslaughter, I also agree with you that the media tried to spin it as “white-on-black” violence when it really wasn’t.
Hipanics (Latinos etc) come in all shades of skin color. Which is why it is so idiotic to differentiate. But hey, that is what Chris and the left are all about.
We are all Homo sapiens sapiens, with a bit of Homo neanderthalensis mixed in.
Tina, do you believe that America has ever been systemically racist? For instance, prior to blacks being allowed to vote, was America systemically racist?
I’m not sure how the definition “experienced by the whole of…a country” equates to “all white people are racist.” You could describe America as a “systemically capitalist” country without thinking that means all Americans are capitalists, right?
I personally do believe that we all have racist thoughts and actions as a result of systemic racism. Those are usually not based on hatred, but ignorance. Anyone who says they have never said or done anything racist isn’t being very honest with themselves. That goes for whites, blacks, and everyone else.
“Remember, left activists have said that people of color have no power and therefore cannot be racist.”
True, and I think they’re absolutely wrong about that. Everyone is capable of racism.
We are all human beings who share the basic emotions . We have all experienced events that are unpleasant or uncomfortable and we all get to learn to manage our hurt or angry feelings about them. Everyone is capable of feeling envious but no one has created an activist movement to eradicate it. Attitudes are another thing we all get to deal with in others. No one has suggested legislation to deal with resentment or cynicism. Our rights are protected in the Constitution. Our courts are equipped to handle actual cases of discrimination…we don’t need people (activists) whose goal is to invent them.
goodreads:
Americans aren’t systemically racist. Americans of every race are naturally weary, on guard, or afraid in certain situations and of people that look different or that look like or sound like (Jesse Jackson) criminals, thugs, gang-bangers, or murderers. Some of this anxiousness may be unreasonable but I suspect most of it is completely natural. Just ask the mothers that live in Chicago!
Tina you’re still using the word “systemic” to talk about individual attitudes. Systemic doesn’t mean every single person in the country is actively racist; it’s about systems, not people. Racist practices can occur with no ill intent. If you want to understand what people mean when they use the term “systemic racism” you have to get away from the notion that they’re accusing individuals of anything and see that they’re talking about social structures, not attitudes.
According to Dr.Joe R. Feagin, systematic racisim are all the well-institutionalized patterns of discrimination that cut across major political, economic, and social organizations in a society.
Hmmm….”cut across major political, economic, and social organizations.
Tell me, which of these are Americans not a part in one way or another.
John Rappoport spins a tale of college entry in the year 2030, “The student mind in the New World,” which begins…
What a hoot!