(Disclaimer: My intent is not to offend anyone and if anything sounds out of pocket then that was simply me not communicating my thoughts well enough)
Racism has been a prominent issue since the beginning of time. I like to think of it as means of a test. I believe we are all supposed to unite, but to also have racist issues in order to test humanity’s ability to grow together. How important would Martin Luther King Jr. be if racism wasn’t a problem? Men like him have changed the state of the world and worked so hard that he even has a holiday. Imagine if there weren’t pillars like him when we needed them, think how different this country would be today. What if we never needed to fight racism? The world would be a lot closer to how it is today sure, but racism is unfortunately still everywhere. Imagining a world without racism is extremely hard for me, but I hope myself and all of the readers can witness this change within our lifetimes.
In our modern day society we see tons of examples of policies against other races, whether intentional or unintentional. Whether it is for the betterment of our country or not. Examples such as immigrants from Central and South America. Interpersonal racism shows up often regarding employment and housing of illegal immigrants so often in fact, that legal immigrants face a lot of oppression as well. The current structure focuses heavily on being the land of the free of course. Which I assume is why “legal” immigrants are still permitted. However, it is obvious that America focuses more so on those born on American soil to qualify as an American.
To challenge these ideas would mean to greatly shift the current superstitions and assumptions of many people. In terms of differing countries we would have to either eliminate every last bit of unemployment as an example which doesn’t seem realistically feasible to me, or find a way to elevate the status of Central America or other countries so that people wouldn’t want to come to North America as much. Leaving it as more of an option rather than even life and death for some. Unfortunately this isn’t exactly feasible in my opinion either. The things we can do right now is individually influence the sway those who hold racist beliefs and values. Regardless of our position in society, spreading kindness can hold the same power if we come together as a collective. Eventually the solutions mentioned before could become real methods if we practice the spread of antiracism beliefs.
Sometimes we meet individuals who may be gay and black. Maybe they were in a state of poverty or became disabled after deploying for combat. Sometimes this can flare up further aggression because people may not support LGBTQ+ values nor the values of African Americans. Perhaps people gain the beliefs and assumptions of poor citizens of color. Maybe they see those who are poor commit crime more often, or join more gangs to formulate these opinions of ignorance without asking themselves what their life situations are. Essentially, it’s like the cards are stacked more against a black man who is in a wheelchair and is bisexual compared to a straight white man. When in reality, it’s those kinds of people that created these situations of poor people of color or those committing crimes. It’s an endless cycle of people seeing those who are at low points in their lives and get this irrational hatred that prevents them from making positive changes for these groups of people.
The current education system in terms of content teach us about the history of antiracism more often but only more recently. The structure has changed to include the explanation of the significance of a civil rights movement while also explaining the details behind it. Compared to simply brushing past it if brought up in older education structured curriculums. Antiracist education can influence the minds of children as early as birth. No one is born racist, it’s the environment we grow up in. We should adopt early practices of antiracism in order to combat the primary narratives. There might be resistance from parents allowing their children to learn beliefs that go against their own or society in general. While others will also welcome these changes. The education system has to remain firm and allow the gradual process where these teachings are welcomed across the board.
The systemic structures and socialization processes have influenced even people of color to hold the belief of whites holding the supremacy. Systemically the population of the white race has always been the ones to influence change primarily and instate the policies that our current society uses even now. In which people of color have grown accustomed to what seems to work and attribute it to white people. On the other hand socially, people of color may be experiencing a sort of apathy towards changing the system and have accepted this, or maybe those of color initiating change themselves have lower levels of attention because of the influence of white people. Critical social work can bring attention to the importance of understanding the influence of people of color while also bringing attention to the power that an individual is able to initiate change that otherwise wouldn’t be implemented sooner if at all by the white supremacists.
Personally I feel like more of a radical change is what will elevate antiracism beliefs more, but to a degree. Radical attempts should be used in order to initiate the change and once the decision has been made to change the system. A cool and collected head filled with unbiased reasoning is key to doing what’s best for this country and the world policies. Critical social work can spread education past specific education facilities and create a wave of like minded individuals to a much greater extent. Antiracist beliefs can extend to being a positive influence that makes it so any change is for the sake of anti racist beliefs while simultaneously allowing a larger majority to accept these changes with open arms.
The article affects my personal values by aligning with my beliefs of standing for the education systems and the changing of mindsets to be less racist; antiracist if you will. I want to see a better world where people of color and other identities can fight and oppose oppression which this article seems to agree with. The NASW also seems to agree when speaking on acting ethically and with integrity. The social work methods employed would also advocate for the use of more education while being a means of education themselves.
Michelle Dunham
Your comment, “It’s an endless cycle of people seeing those who are at low points in their lives and get this irrational hatred that prevents them from making positive changes for these groups of people;” made me consider another aspect or possible source for this irrationality. Sadly, I have seen many groups or individuals exhibit some form of irrational thoughts or behaviors. In the beginning, you may actually find a majority of either group in envy of the other; attempting to excel at these admirations in their own lives, and failing miserably. Constant failure can feed a very dark place in us all. But when we are trying to “be like Mike” and we absolutely cannot fly no matter what shoes we wear, that envy turns to jealousy, to bitterness, to anger, to rage… and then what? If we can’t act out? We will create a world around us of like minded and let the darkness spread.
Ian Miller
Good blog Sean.
In the beginning, you stated that “I like to think of it [racism] as means of a test. I believe we are all supposed to unite, but to also have racist issues in order to test humanity’s ability to grow together”. I like how you worded this, and I agree with you that the existence of racism is a test and I view that test as a means, or even a catalyst of, our own social evolution. To make a conscious decision that our nation and the diversity within it has reached its peak social development is insulting to the people and what the U.S. is capable of in terms of assessing humanity and the human experience.
You touched on legal and illegal immigration which I view as a very interesting, complex, and misunderstood topic. Our country is obsessed with hating on illegal immigrants but we do so in such an uniformed way. I view the complexity of immigration in the same sense that I do with how the U.S. loves to disguise their own political agendas by how they classify foreign groups involved in political conflicts as freedom fighters, terrorists groups, or others. The labels are loaded with biases and viewpoint perspective agendas.
The U.S. Department of State lists the following as ways a person can immigrate into the U.S.: “family ties, employment, adoption, special immigrant categories, and diversity”. The American Immigration Council states that “the body of law governing U.S. immigration policy is called the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA allows the United States to grant up to 675,000 permanent immigrant visas each year across [those] various visa categories”. And those categories do not even cover refugees and asylum seekers.
You said that “[i]n terms of differing countries we would have to either eliminate every last bit of unemployment as an example which doesn’t seem realistically feasible to me, or find a way to elevate the status of Central America or other countries so that people wouldn’t want to come to North America as much”. I think the option of elevating the status of other countries social infrastructure is wildly underrated. But the same people who lobby for stricter immigration are the same people who are lobbying for less overseas social support. The theme is very isolationist and survivalist, which is very dangerous since it was the U.S., and other power countries, that created the capitalist world that has all these poorer nations dependent on the U.S. for support.
Like I said, incredibly complex and divisive issue, not easy to talk about. I like that you prefaced your blog with you uncertainty about how you may possibly unintentionally offend someone. These conversations are hard, but I love the Verna Myers TED Talk video when she talks about how it is time to stop trying to not see color (race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other difference). We need to see all these things, it is important that we see them. I loved the reading from last week by Kendi. In it he quotes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, “[i]n order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. Three is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently” (1978).
For fun I also added a link from the Cato Institute that gives a history of immigration.
American Immigration Council
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works#:~:text=The%20body%20of%20law%20governing,year%20across%20various%20visa%20categories.
U.S. Department of State
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/employment-based-immigrant-visas.html#fourth
Kendi
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/06/ibram-x-kendi-definition-of-antiracist
Cato Institute
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/brief-history-us-immigration-policy-colonial-period-present-day