TL;DR: No one is innocent; never talk to someone just as a member of a group; always show respect; tell those making bigoted statements, “I am very uncomfortable with that kind of language. I find it offensive. It hurts me.” Research shows that these I-messages are more effective than arguments or accusations.
This means, in particular, not to be bigoted toward bigots. Do not get so angry at Creationist bigots that you denounce all Christians or all religions together. Do not get so angry at Trumpists as to deny their humanity, and their victimization. Also, do not be bigoted towards your allies, denouncing those who are fighting the “wrong” kinds of bigotry.
And do not be bigoted toward yourself. We all have prejudicial ideas that have been drummed into us and can surface at the most awkward times. As we say in Soto Zen Buddhism, do not embrace thoughts that arise unbidden, and do not try to pretend you don’t have them. Be aware of them, and let them pass away.
Big Bill Broonzy - Black Brown and White
All of these are issues that Prof. Nacoste explores in this book and others of his writings. He grew up in Jim Crow Louisiana, so he knows that system and those kinds of thinking well. He also served in the segregated US Navy, including three days of race rioting on the aircraft carrier Intrepid. He played an important part in dismantling systemic racism there, as a trained RAFT (Racial Awareness Facilitator).
Harry Truman officially desegregated the US military in 1948. That’s what the history books say. But the Navy only had Black sailors on board as menials, tending engines, cleaning decks, serving in mess rooms. Racism exploded in the Navy in 1972, with hundreds of riots and other incidents, as documented in Black Sailor, White Navy, by John Sherwood. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt came down hard on the racists and racism, and instituted major changes in training and discipline, in which Petty Officer Nacoste played a significant role.
The central concept of this book is neo-diversity. We have gone way past dismantling the original legal Jim Crow race laws. Now it is about all sorts of groups: women, Latinos, Asians, LGBTQs, and many others. All of the old simplicities in relations between dominant White Patriarchal Christianist Supremacists and everyone else have been upended, leaving everyone in uncharted territory. Many are delighted at the prospect, but still wary of how they will be received. Many are appalled, and bend every effort to denying the new reality and trying to put things back as they were.
Many sociologists and psychologists have analyzed this situation from various perspectives, contributing to the environment in which Prof. Nacoste was able to create pioneering college courses on interpersonal relations in this new environment, and write several notable books.
James Brown - Living in America
Further Reading
Taking on Diversity: How We Can Move from Anxiety to Respect
Making Gumbo in the University
Howl of the Wolf
See No Evil, Hear No Evil: Senior Leaders' Social Comparisons, and the Low Salience of Racial Issues
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