Everyone’s a little bit racist. – Avenue Q
We’re all a little racist, it’s true, but is that seriously a bad thing? Is every single racist thought a threat to social justice?
Of course racism is now a very slippery thing, isn’t it? It is my understanding that “racist” now refers to any person who acts based on simple statistics. If it’s statistically proven that 76% of Irish people have gonorrhea*, is it racist to tell a woman to be careful about Irish men when visiting Ireland? Where’s the line? Is it closed-minded, because I didn’t tell her to be careful about the women? Is it made even more racist when 97% of people with gonorrhea eat lots of potatoes, to say that Irish people who eat potatoes have gonorrhea?
*None of these statistics are true, to my knowledge. If they are, it’s an incredible coincidence.
It is my belief that racism isn’t the issue here. That’s right, racism is, in itself, not a threat. It’s nothing to cry foul at, and it’s nothing to really worry about. What we’ve done with racism is looked at a sneeze and called it a disease instead of a symptom. Racism is not a problem. The real problem is a simple one, one that started the whole racism thing and is the reason why people can’t believe that racism can be a harmless thing.
That problem, dear readers, is stupidity. Stupidity in large and generous amounts is the only thing that account for the ruination of racism as something that doesn’t have to harm a soul.
Farmer Jackson thinks that black people are lazy people who can’t do squat. He sees his neighbors move in, and sees that they are black. He concludes that they are lazy. You still with me so far? Right now, Farmer Jackson isn’t hurting anyone with his racist thoughts.
Farmer Jackson sees one of the said neighbors, Habibu, in the market. He avoids him. Hooray.
Farmer Jackson is in a position to hire some farm hands, and is pretty set on turning down Habibu’s request to take the job. Still not hurting anything.
Habibu shows that he gathers corn the fastest. Farmer Jackson chooses someone else. “RACIST!” the people cry!
No! This isn’t the problem! The problem is that Farmer Jackson is an IDIOT! He let his racism – which is in itself not harmful – affect his judgment, making him pass over someone who was the most qualified for the job. The problem isn’t his racism; the problem is that Farmer Jackson is too stupid to handle it.
And that’s really the issue. Humankind is too stupid to handle racism the right way. Some readers are probably still stuck on the fact that I chose “Habibu” as a name for a black guy. It’s not racist to use an African name. In fact, it’s kind of racist to complain about it, isn’t it? I could have just as easily chosen the name “Adolf” or “Jennifer.” You don’t know the reasons behind my choice, so don’t pretend to!
And what about if racism is beneficial? Oh, nobody complains then! Let’s say I chose a black man because I assumed he’d jump higher and therefore be useful on my basketball team. Nobody complains if you hire them based on racist motives, now do they?
“JUDGE I WOULD LIKE TO SUE!”
“Why?”
“He hired me because I was Asian, and he therefore assumed I would be able to do his calculations quickly. When I couldn’t do them quickly, he fired me!”
How is this situation any different from
“He hired me because I was qualified, and he therefore assumed I would be able to do his calculations quickly. When I couldn’t do them quickly, he fired me!”
Sounds legit to me. Racism is funny. Hate is not. Stupidity is not. If we could enjoy racism without all of that hate and stupidity, life would be better.
Racism isn’t stupid; people are.
