When did we arrive at the point where applying the words racist and racism were more radioactive than actually doing and saying racist things and demonstrating oneself to be a racist?
That is the first paragraph in this powerful column in today’s New York Times, which has as its subtitle these words:
Refusing to address and acknowledge the prejudices in our country is a big part of the problem.
Quite obviously, the column is written in response to the past week, where after the tweets of the President the previous weekend and the criticism that followed which lead to the even more noxious display at his political rally) we saw a back and forth on television and in newspapers of whether what the President had done was racist.
Blow has no doubt.
He goes through the events and the responses, and asks why it has taken White journalists so long to call racism out, and applies that to those of us who are White citizens and not journalists:
It seems to me that white journalists in particular — and white citizens, in general — have done a tremendous injury to truth and honesty by providing the dangerous illusion that racism was hard to define and racists were hard to designate.
He also applies that critique to the newspaper for whom he writes.
There is much that is rich in this column. It is worth reading several times, first to grasp its overall thrust, and then the points which pile upon one another.
Immediately after his criticism of The New York Times he offers these words.
And specifically, by leaving people of color out on a limb as the primary voices of truth on these racial issues, you have created the impression that the use of these terms are born of personal grievance rather than professional assessment.
In other words, racism is not just a problem for people of color, but for all of us, and the paper presents a false narrative by the frame it has been using.
Blow goes through data which demonstrates that too many people in this country have been unwilling to confront how much racism there is, that they react to charges of racism by believing the charges are overblown. He however believes racism “is actually under-identified and labeled” in our country.
He explores the thrust of that argument before he comes to the powerful end of his column.
In three columns he lays out his argument clearly.
Read these final paragraphs, and ponder their meaning for ALL of us:
Make no mistake: Denying racism or refusing to call it out is also racist. You cannot claim to be egalitarian and anti-racism and choose to be closeted among family and friends or even in your community for fear of rejection and ostracism, or as is often used as an excuse, to keep the peace.
There is no peace for the targets of racism, so your choosing of personal comfort and the comfort of racists supports the commission of racial injury.
If you are just coming to call Trump’s behavior racist — or, worse yet, if you still can’t bring yourself to do so — you are part of the problem. You are supporting that architecture of white racism.
Now if you have not already done so, go read the entire column.