Andrea Leyton-Mange - How does race impact your life/society

[Andrea Leyton-Mange]

Like all social tools, language changes over time, flowing through social networks and fueled by links of social identification. Noting this, I often ask people to guess what defines the greatest linguistic divide in America today. It's not geography (like North vs. South), it's not socioeconomic level (rich vs. poor), and it's not gender. It's race.

The fact that the speech of white Americans is still so different from that of black Americans is a frightening indicator of race relations in this country. The American enslavement of Africans was the first instance of race-based slavery in modern times. Most historic instances of slavery were predicated only on debt or military conquest. American slavery was always an economic institution, but it was justified and perpetuated by an assumption of racial inferiority. I don't approve of slavery in any form, but there's something about the combination of abuse with racism that's especially insidious. It's been 150 years since the abolition and America is still only taking its first steps toward real equality.

From a genetic standpoint, “races” don't really exist. Genetics are probabilistic, and ethnicity is more of a sliding scale than a discrete identity. Racial identification comes down to a combination of looks and shared heritage. Prejudice is a symptom of our natural tendency to compartmentalize everything we see into tidy, predictable definitions. Some racism is just xenophobia, and some also carries the communal resentment of conflict spanning centuries.

What can we do about it? The idealist's answer to how the concept of race should affect society might be “not at all.” But even if the concept of race is prejudicial by nature, it has affected society to such a degree that it not only can't be ignored, but it shouldn't be ignored. Racial boundaries define much of the world's cultural heritage, and ignoring race would risk ignoring valuable cultures. And more importantly, acknowledging race is necessary in order to remedy continuing racial injustice in America and the world.

Acknowledging race to combat injustice necessitates a distinction between substantive equality and formal equality. Formal equality means that all people are treated equally with regards to the letter of the law. Substantive equality takes existing social inequality into account when creating law, in an attempt to create a truly equal society in practice. Affirmative action is the most familiar example. Despite their imperfect implementation and inherent acknowledgment of racial differences, I support laws and social programs that are based on the goal of substantive equality. It would be foolish to think that social inequality doesn't exist outside of the law, and ignoring the problem isn't going to make it go away.

I count myself very lucky to have been raised by parents who instilled in me ideals of equality from a very early age. Because of this, and because I'm a member of America's majority race (at least in appearance), I wouldn't say that race has affected my life in a very noticeable way. You could say that race affected me mostly by sparing me the same discrimination that others have to deal with, but race also affects everyone in subtle ways. Homogeneous communities and media stereotypes contribute to subconscious judgments even when they're not explicit in thoughts or actions. I grew up in all-white suburbs, and to this day I still have “What if they think I'm a racist?”awkwardness when I first meet people who look different from me.

My Jewish ethnicity has affected my life in many positive ways. I'm the token atheist, so clearly the religion wasn't foremost. For me, the Jews are defined as a “race” by our history of oppression and narrow escapes (the classic “they tried to kill us, they failed, let's drink!”). Racial oppression is never a good thing, but it changes a people irreversibly and creates a bond that might otherwise not have existed. I can't speak for religious Jews, but the Jewish culture I come from used this history as a lesson of peace for the future.

In my opinion, our goal regarding race should be mutual respect and integration. We need to be aware of the role race plays in society, and tolerate neither discriminatory segregation nor pressured conformity. We need to educate against racism, and be able to celebrate our own culture and the culture of others without making pseudo-scientific assumptions about their personalities, capabilities, or other qualities. I believe that remaining aware of racial injustice and open to talking about it will give us the best chance of fighting it.

Many thanks to my boyfriend Ames Grawert and my friend Paris Nesbitt for their help with this essay.

[Pobloske]

I think you have written a very interesting and well thought out article. I am, however, not sure if i agree with your conclusion. I think that to say that "our goal regarding race should be mutual respect and integration" is ignoring what makes race an issue in society today. Racial conflicts no longer stem from "pseudo-scientific assumptions" they come from economic and social competition. People always look to identify with a larger group. This need identification naturally causes conflict with people who identify themselves differently. We see this phenomena everywhere, Red Sox vs Yankees, Metal heads Vs. Punks, Hipsters Vs Jocks, Religious Vs. Non and Whites Vs Blacks Vs Latino Vs every other racial classification. To say that our goal should be mutual respect and integration, to me, seems to be missing the real problem. Like telling a hipster to not judge and live with a jock i think it is equally impossible and pointless to say racial boundaries should be defined by mutual respect and integration. Let me know what you think.

pobloske

[Nick Hambley]

Pobloske,

If you see integration as "missing the real problem," how do you think we should deal with racial tensions? Also, what similarities do you see between White vs. Black and Hipster vs. Jock?

-Nick

[Guest]

Nick,

I think that all people look to identify with a group of people with similar interests. This is how the modern White vs. Black is similar to Hipster Vs. Jock. Hipsters all have the same general interests and thus gather together while jocks do the same. As the two groups are different in their general 'culture' there are natural conflicts as each group tries to maintain its originality and its 'coolness.' This i feel is what the race problem has evolved into. As a result, i think that racial tensions are not a bad thing in the abstract; they exist to fill a natural human need and desire. To me the problem comes when people are assumed to be part of a racial sub group when they are not. For instance the problem comes when people assume that i am a white power bigot when i am not and when i assume that a black person inherently dislikes white people. Race is something that you cannot wash off, a hipster can change clothes but i can not change my skin; the challenge to society is to allow people's actions speak for who they are. When people chose a side i think that the conflict is natural and acceptable, as is the case with Jocks, Hipsters and people who identify heavily with race groups. We need to not immediately judge people racially and allow the individual to chose how they are viewed. Obviously the race problem goes way deeper economically but i feel that this would be a start to removing the taboo that race seems to have right now and would be a huge step towards having a society that celebrates race but is beyond the problems it can cause.

Im sorry if that is disjointed, let me know where the holes are or why its wrong. i have not fleshed it out with very many people.

Pobloske