So a fellow named Thomas Sugrue, a professor at New York University, wrote an opinion piece for WaPo today called It's Not Dixie's Fault. The basic premise of the piece is that Northerners should stop wagging their fingers at Southerners about racism, bigotry, and discrimination, because in reality, we're all terrible, and even more so, Northerners are especially terrible. Case in point:
In fact, many of the racial injustices we associate with the South are actually worse in the North.
And:
Economic segregation is most severe in America’s Northern metropolitan areas, as well...
And:
Education remains separate and unequal nearly everywhere in the United States, but Confederate-flag-waving Southerners aren’t responsible for the most racially divided schools.
Sugrue's conclusion is that because racism seems to be broader and deeper in the North, Northerners should stop acting like high-and-mighty scolds and absolving themselves of responsibility for change. The point is that it might be too easy for Northerners to blame the South for racism and thus wash their hands of having to participate in any meaningful social change efforts.
To Professor Sugrue I want only to say the following.... below the orange swirly...
I am more than happy to stop pointing my finger at the South and condemning that region for its legacy of racism and discrimination. When they take down all of their state-sponsored and official public displays of racism.
The rebel flag in South Carolina came down, of course.
But this one in Mississippi seems to have more support than ever. And that's the official state flag.
Meanwhile in North Carolina you can get the rebel flag on your license plate and you can see the first flag of the Confederacy flying at the state house on Confederate holidays.
(Sidebar: Confederate Holidays? WTF.)
Really, there is a wide variety of public, official, state-sponsored applications of Confederate symbolism in the South. Like the state flags of Alabama and Georgia and the state seals of Alabama and Texas.
We know that symbols have meaning. That is what makes them symbols. And we know that people respond to symbols in both overt and subtle ways. I think a reasonable case could be made based on evidence from research in social psychology that racist symbols and related imagery increase individuals' racist tendencies. I think letting the dregs of the Confederacy linger on display in the public square goes a long, albeit insidious, way towards at best sustaining and at worst enhancing racism and bigotry.
And where might we find all of those dregs on display?
The South.
So Professor Sugrue, you are right. We are all to blame for the fact that racism still exists in American society. Racism is here, there, and everywhere. But we must ask ourselves what might be the ongoing drivers of racism? What are the factors that perpetuate racist thoughts, prejudiced emotions, and discriminatory behaviors? There are many -- but the now-anachronistic signage of the past is surely part of the matrix.
It is not easy to change attitudes, improve feelings, or modify behaviors, but it sure is easy to tear down flags.
Tear the racist flags down. Tear them all down. And then talk to me about Northern guilt and complicity.