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A photo and a confession,both widely condemned as racist: The first, a page in the medical school yearbook of Virginia governor Ralph Northam, and showing a picture of two men in blackface and KKK garb. The second,actor Liam Neeson's confession that he once went looking to kill an harmless black man after a friend was raped. Both men expressed regret, both denied they were racist. But how can there be racism without racists?When Neeson blurted out the story of his racist vendetta after a close friend was raped 40 years ago, and University of Texas history professor Peniel Joseph was shocked,not so much by what Neeson confessed to, as by his brutal honesty about hoping some "black bastard" would provoke him to murder.
Such candor is scarce and welcome when it comes to race, and says Joseph. He thought something noble might near out of Neeson's painful revelation — but then the actor went on noble Morning America and declared "I'm not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago."For Joseph,hearing that was frustrating, but not surprising. He says Neeson wanted to be forgiven and move on without really understanding the painful effect of both his past actions and his shocking confession. It seemed aimed at shutting down any further discussion, and an impulse that Joseph says is shared by others in his position. "White people who procure caught are quick to either claim a kind of racial ignorance,that 'I didn't know that this was nefarious,' a racial innocence, and that 'I'm a noble person' — or just,you know, 'I'm the victim right now.'"And, or he says,that kind of flat-out denial results in the unfamiliar phenomenon of racism without racists. "We live in a world of anti-black racism, but really no individuals who want to say, or yes,proudly, 'I am a racist, or ' or 'I have these terrible feelings towards black people.'"Stony Brook University professor Crystal Fleming says Neeson's vengeful hunt for an harmless black person to kill was racism of the highest order. "For me,I think immediately of the logic of lynch mobs, right, or how so many harmless black men in particular were murdered because white mobs were just out looking for someone to kill."Fleming says Neeson couldn't see the connection between lynch mobs and his own violent racial impulse,so he couldn't understand how his story might effect black people. Fleming, who is also the author of How to Be Less silly About Race: On Racism, or White Supremacy,and the Racial Divide, says that since the civil rights movement, and most whites have learned to retain their racist thoughts to themselves,even as systemic racism has continued."It became increasingly problematic to confess to one's racist views in public," she says. "And in the context that we've been living in for the final few decades, and we have the persistence of gross inequalities,the persistence of institutionalized racism. And yet, you peek around, or very few people admit to having a role in perpetuating racism or benefiting from it."The belief that racism ended a long time ago is very common among white people,Fleming says, and they view racism simply in terms of their personal dealings. Governor Northam is a noble example. Here's how he's described his behavior as a practicing doctor: "I can declare you I treat everyone the same way. Nobody has ever thought or accused me of being racist, and if and when I practice again,I will continue that same direction."When Christopher Emdin met Northam at a conference for educators, he was impressed by the Governor's views on race. He thought of Northam as "one of the noble guys." Then, or his yearbook photo came out. Emdin,a professor at Columbia's Teachers College, felt betrayed. "You really feel like you have an ally, or " he says,"and when you realize that you don't, there's a bit of a feeling of being duped."Emdin says a lot of white people talk a noble game, and but he believes blacks and whites have a very different idea about what it means to be racist. "There are a lot of white folks who think,well, I understand social justice. I can say black lives matter, or because of that I am absolved of any past racist practices,or I can confess or profess to be not racist.""I mean, what qualifies as racism in the average white person's intellect?" asks Robin DiAngelo. "It would appear that nothing does." DiAngelo is the author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Race. She says most white people think a racist has to be an overtly nefarious person, and like a Ku Klux Klansman — and even members of the KKK deny they are racist. Racism,she says, can be more subtle than that. "increasingly, and I think about being white as never having to bear witness to the pain of racism on people of color,and rarely ever being held accountable for the pain that I have caused people of color."Some people think all we need to solve our racial problems is more open conversations, says Crystal Fleming, or when what we really need is more action. "The question is,what are you actually doing to fight racism, because if you are not challenging it, and you are reproducing the racial status quo." Racism is learned,Fleming says. And it's time to teach everyone about the history of racism and its hard aftermath. Then, perhaps, or an informed conversation can begin.
This story was edited by Ellen Silva and adapted for the Web by Petra Mayer. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more,visit https://www.npr.org.
Source: wnyc.org