Addressing White Privilege

I recently read a theory that the KKK got into drug dealing targeting poor black communities so to kill and otherwise keep blacks down.  This is interesting and it alludes to some serious issues.  Along similar lines as this article, you might be interested in some of the work of Stanford Fellow and author Thomas Sowell. You know, no one will be able to prove or disprove the KKK claim because they would need to know who is running the drug cartels.  If we had that sort of exact knowledge the DEA would likely have taken them down (unless the DEA are all KKK members, doubtful, or the cartels are outside the country, which many might be; otherwise hardly then KKK in origins.  But if any group I would be less concerned about receiving false accusations, it would be the KKK.) But the point is, how can for instance NatGeo produce and air Gangland but the system won't do anything about it?  What, do they believe they’re “killing their own” so that's OK? (I've he...

I recall a conversation from many years ago with a Houston, Texas baseball player (white man) who lived in Houston most of his adult life.  He tried to explain his attitude toward blacks by saying, “I don’t believe they are inferior or should have fewer rights.  I just don’t like them.”  In teasing out why, it boiled down to the general statement, “they are unpleasant”.  But his African-American ball player colleagues “were different” – even though “they weren’t interested in hanging” with him. Can you consider this white baseball player as racist?  Perhaps, in that he has generally an aversion toward black people.  But it gets tricky when we really dig into what it really means to be racist – saying someone is racist has a rather specific meaning in society. The reason that one might easily find oneself labeling this man as racist, may be based in one's own implicit or general attitudes.  A white Texas man must surely have a heritage of racism sin...

There have been few other findings in social psychology that have achieved such quick popularity as the Implicit Association Test, or IAT for short.  The form of IAT that has given it its publicity is the Race IAT – and consequently, a desirable measure to bring up in civil rights discussions.  It has even been used to accuse white people of being unknowingly and even secretly racist.  An accusation that is incorrect and unwarranted, and has no evidence trail to support it. IAT measures how fast you respond to what it poses as associations (through a cognitive-heuristic process called priming) between two stimuli such as words and pictures.  The theory is the faster you respond the more automatic an association exists within your mind between the two stimuli.  For instance, if you respond faster to the association of a black face to a negative word than you do a black face to a positive word, you may hold what is called an implicit negative attitude toward bla...

In this post I just want to talk about the term Institutionalized Racism itself.  If you take a look at the denotative definition in the dictionary and also its connotative definition in general and colloquial use, and its use in literature and academia, it speaks to a deliberate, explicit and formalized system.  To say racism is institutionalized as a means to describe our implicit social networks operating beneath our awareness is to grossly misuse the term.  Moreover, it incorrectly presents a view that posits this aspect of our nature as totally dominant and its response to simply skin color as its only problem. I can understand its use for its shock value, but shock causes backlash, and that hinders progress.  Moreover, such a use is political in nature, which is to impose one person’s (or group’s) way of looking at it on another.  No man or women on the planet is above fallibility, and when I see the work of experts in the field – even those admired with...

I want to offer some discussion on this term.  I still marvel at how confident people who use this term are, and how little they can concretely explain not only what it is but also fail to offer concrete evidence for it. This does not originate from believing it does or does not exist -- as if I believe there is no widespread problem.  This is coming from the frustration that so much energy and resources, and resulting public discourses, are centered around this concept - yet no realistic and concrete statement of the problem with directly corresponding solutions are proffered.  It is almost as if it seems people want to just exercise rhetorically for the social deference or to justify their activity traps.  Regardless, either not knowing concrete features of the problem and solution or simply keeping them secret, deserves stout reproach. Solid Ground defines Institutionalized Racism as “the systematic distribution of resources, power and opportunity in our society...

Long ago a respected professor of mine once said, “A true intellectual never reacts; is slow to conclude – and is willing to replace held views even completely if evidence calls for it.”  Meaning behind this for me has grown ever-the-more since I started conducting graduate work in researching human nature.  It has also enjoyed significant adornment recently from the scholarly perspectives of bold individuals such as Thomas Sowell, Scott Plous, and Jonathan Haidt. I don’t know if I can live up to my professor’s advice perfectly but I have and continue to strive to.  There is nothing I’ve undertaken that I’ve labored more in this regard than developing my understanding and views on racism and racial disparity.  Along my journey I’ve stood on the work of others and have considered all views and all sources of evidence – especially the most recent.  My view has started to distill to a level of confidence I feel I can write about.  Why this is interesting to...

Since I first started posting about this topic, I realized that although I was focusing on the human nature at a fundamental level, there are other views to consider as well. For instance, I recall many years ago reading about the differences in experiences between black people and white people, and wondering what that was all about – especially since I could not personally recall observing prejudice against blacks even though my life involved me associating with people of all walks of life and ethnicity - especially black people (not just African-Americans). In short, I didn't think of black people any differently than any of the other people of diverse ethnic groups I've associated with, so why would their experience be any different than mine? I was naive. My first reaction was defensiveness against what seemed like imposed guilt. This was my first experience with White Privilege. (It is important to note that I'm not sure I was aware of the term White Privilege then ...

An interesting twist is the proof our Color Coded System (CCS) can be retrained (see post: Fundamental Human Nature ). Specifically, as noted in several studies in psychology and neuroscience, American culture seems to have trained it to where statistically, more people regardless of their race or ethnicity favor whites over blacks. This reveals that symbols and communications in a culture can determine how our CCS influences our thoughts and actions. Others studies show this preference, and negative stereotypes prevalent in our culture, influence and correlate with the statistical differences between blacks and whites academic performance, as well as socioeconomic status. The how underlying this is partially explained by the video in the previous post ( Fundamental Human Nature). So what does this mean? We need to stop pointing our fingers, and increase our education about relevant human nature so we can make strides to remove stereotypes in our culture. But also to educate all - in...

One of the realizations we have to face is there is indeed an uneven playing field in America, often referred to as White Privilege. This term refers to the consequence of and provides social meaning to the condition typically cited in academia termed Modern Racism. Although I believe use of White Privilege can be counterproductive by reinforcing group boundaries, it has a poignant effect that raises awareness of the issue. It can also cause a defensive backlash. It is hoped here that readers can get beyond any reactivity or defensiveness regarding the topic of White Privilege. My intent is to honestly treat the issue with as little political bias as possible. So I urge you to focus on content and not on trying to "read" me. Granted, overt and even covert discrimination resulting in unfair treatment is now usually unlawful, and great progress has been made socially. We do have to recognize that never before in the history of this country have minority groups suffered less di...