Where the Discomfort of Racism Comes into Play

Today is Blog Against Racism Day, as Badger points out in her erudite post on the subject.

I would like to bring up what seems to me a delicate point having to do with racism, which, of course, is something that everyone who is not psychotic is "against" and yet, somehow, it exists everywhere and all around us in our daily lives. It is this.

What is race? What category of identity does "race" imply?

As I see it, it is the self-identification with one's ancestors, particularly when it is in an American context. It is not necessarily a set of physical characteristics, which can manifest themselves in so many different ways and in different combinations that often people are not identifiable as a single race or another. I mean, I'm definitely white, no getting around that fact. But I have friends and their children who are proudly and pleasantly mixed up, whirled and beautiful in their ancestral stew.

But it is a good thing, to identify with one's ancestry, on this we seem to be agreed. It is a manifestation of diversity, which is a Good Thing. We all have things to learn from each other, and need to learn to consider choices that are different from our own, or cultural differences, to be on a par with those of our own "race" or culture (you see how quickly these two things are elided? that is also fruit for a thousand posts, I think... How are race and culture different? Use examples.)

All the same, there is a more difficult side of that cultural and racial identification; it tends to exclude. The celebration of difference must stop at some continuously changing line, when that celebration bumps up against contempt for the rest of the world.

The problem with racism is precisely at that location, that uncomfortable place where difference is both celebrated and reviled, though of course I would also argue that it is absolutely requisite that we make the attempt. It's not easy, but it is our responsibility as humans to try to understand each other. It's the only project that really matters, actually.

Comments

[savtadotty]

The concept of "Race" did not exist until Darwin, the first librarian. Now that we have google, we don't need Race any more. Culture, however, existed as soon as people started to eat and sweep their cave floors.

[savtadotty]

I was so intrigued by your post that I wrote my own thoughts on the subject at my own blog. Thank you!

[Jo]

Cool! I'll check it out!