INTRODUCTION
So far, 2015 has been a
difficult year for whiteness. It is becoming harder and harder for white
Americans to remain “color-blind” in the wake of so many acts of overt racial
violence against people of color and narratives of those who would attempt to co-opt
racial experiences by participating in blackface cropping up in the Mainstream
media. Yet, even with its difficulty level increased, like a wild animal backed
into a corner, this provokes the “rationalizing whiteness media machine” to
work even harder to do the (all too common) “media dance” of isolating these
incidence as both unrelated and individualized.
That, regardless of the volume and propensity of the stories ensconced
in blatant structural racism, many media outlets will mask it through rhetoric
steeped in common color-blind excuses of mental illness and poor decision
making.
DOLEZAL
AND SYMBOLIC ETHNICITY
There has been a lot written about Rachel Dolezal recently. A woman who was born to white parents
has, for the last 7 years or so, been identifying, and to a large extent
passing, as biracial. When this story
initially broke, there was a lot of questions about the legitimacy of her claim
and (at least from the media outlet ensconced in whiteness) whether or not a
white person could identify and construct a “trans racial identity” in which a
person could identify as another race or ethnicity, thus being able to
construct a dissident racial performance. This has led to many erroneous
comparisons to the transgender narrative of Caitlyn Jenner.
The
narratives of Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal are not that same thing. We
promote the struggle felt by Caitlyn Jenner because of the strict imposition of
a binary gender system that limits gender expression to a simplified either/or
choice based around the validation of reproduction. That if we had a more fluid
public understanding of gender then we would all live within a broader and much
more widely acceptable gendered spectrum[1] Dolezal’s narrative is a prime example of
white privilege through what Mary Water’s calls Symbolic Ethnicity.[2]
This is the idea that those categorized as “white” (usually of European
descent) through cultural assimilation have been able to abstractly connect to
their heritage without consequence (because to whites ethnicity does not
matter). Additionally, this allows white the ability to construct a
multi-cultural identity through cultural consumerism. As an example, as a white
person, I can listen to Celtic music, be Buddhist, train in the martial arts
and French forms of fencing, love Italian food, while having a German heritage
where I am not punished or admonished by society for not knowing my language,
or have to apologize for Nazism. Whereas many people of color are seen as
traitors or pariahs if they don’t know their language (e.g. Spanish for Latinos)
or don’t comment on social and historical events (e.g. immigration and slavery
for Latinos and African Americans respectively).
Dolezal fabricated racial identity takes this
notion of symbolic ethnicity from beyond just a consumerist model into one of a
racist caricature. Not only did she identify and embrace aspects of black
culture without sanction, she took the extra step and became a parody through blackface. The very idea that she has the ability to
shed her race like a snake skin does not promote the false notion of racial
fluidity; it expressively highlights white privilege. For the simple fact that
people of color cannot shed their black and browness when it suits them, as
Dolezal shed her whiteness.
What is also troubling is the way
that the common explanation of race as a Social Construct was used in an
attempt to support this “trans racial” myth.
This misconception here is that just because race is a social construct,
which it is, that does not mean that the way race is socially constructed is
devoid of meaning. Race matters, a lot. This can be illustrated in the many
ways Dolezal attempted to legitimize her constructed blackness (through a fake
father of color, changing her hair style and darkening her skin). This actions
also delegitimize any good Dolezal could
have done as a white ally to improve the lives of people of color rather
than try and co-opt their struggle
Yet,
the most troubling, and sociologically interesting aspect of this case is that she was able to “pass” as black, gain scholarships, and be hired as the
local chapter president of the NAACP through
adopting culturally specific stereotypes.
The fact that all it takes to convince the general public of a
multicultural identity is all based in cosmetic aesthetics and stereotypical
behavior, shows that our ideas of race are still quite superficial, and more
importantly, we are not as post racial as we would have ourselves to believe.
As a
final note on the matter of Dolezal, I want to echo the sentiments expressed on
the most recent Bitch Media Propaganda Backtalk podcast. In this episode, the hosts point out another
example of Dolezal’s white privilege is her ability to take news coverage away
from the actual lives of black women.
The very epitome being that we all know the name Rachel Dolezal but we
don’t remember the names of women/girls of color that were victimized during the
same time period (Arnesha Bowers) and McKinley pool incident, or the women who
started the #BlacklivesMatter movement namely Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors,
and Opal Tometi. This is a perfect example of the symbolic annihilation of race
and gender.
Here is some Brilliance from Maya Rudolph:
RACIAL
VIOLENCE POLICE AND BEYOND
Many Sociologists and
Anti-Racist advocates have already discussed the racialization of people of
color within the current context of escalated tension between people of color
and the police. I use the term “escalated” because there has been a long
history of tension between people of color and the police so much so that there
friction is normalized, expected and warranted. It was only recently that the
media has been saturated with accounts of people of color being harassed,
beaten and shot (and killed) by police.[3]
Note on the video: I find it interesting that white male (presumably) parents take it upon themselves to calm the "out of control" black teenagers. Yet, this is not framed as interfering in police procedures. Neither are they brought up on charges. This is a prime example of white male privilege.
Yet, this escalation is,
in part, a social construct. While this tension may seem escalated, it is only
due to the increased media coverage. Middle class and affluent white folks who
are secure in their privilege and trapped in the false consciousness that
police (the system and the individuals) serve, protect, and punish equally:
regardless of race, class, gender, nationality, or disability (See my Post on
Ferguson and Colorblindness) see more black and brown faces on the news being
harassed and they think it’s a novelty, or at the very least, nostalgic; reminiscent of an assumed bygone
era; when this is an everyday reality for people of color. Especially for victims:
Treyvon Martin[4],
Jordan Davis[5]
Michael Brown [6]EricGarner[7] Freddie Gray[8] and Walter Scott[9] The offenders of these
murders were acquitted, not charged, insufficiently charged, or only charged
after intense public outcry. These are just a few examples of the systemic
nature of violence against people of color both from the police and from
civilians.
Example:
Riot, what’s in a name?
A Google search for
“Balt” auto finishes with “Baltimore Riots” as the first suggestion and
“Baltimore Riots 2015” as the second suggestion. It is quite understanding that the Google
finishing algorithm would “naturally” turn “Balt” into “Baltimore” as “Balt”
can be considered a root of the latter.
The issue is that it includes the word “riot”. To some, this may not be an issue,
identifying that Google, in its efficiency, is giving you what you are looking
for (with an accuracy that borders on precognition). Culling from news
articles, blog posts, and other interested parties and investors; Google
assumes a user is searching for information about the civil unrest that occurred
in Baltimore. Thus, since many articles and posts about the recent protest and
unrest often use the word “Riot” it makes sense for Google to auto finish the
word “ Balt” with “Baltimore Riot” As a
Sociologist, however; I take issue with the use of the term “Riot” when
explaining the civil disobedience in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray
while in police custody. Far too often,
whenever people of color protest, or are just in a large group in public, they
are met with a “show of force” by police (in riot gear) and threatened with
violence. Meanwhile, white violent outburst are labeled with less harsh
rhetoric and explained away.
There is a video for
that:
THE
TERRORISM OF SYSTEMIC WHITE SUPREMACY
On Jun 17th 2015
Dylann Roof opened fire during a service at the Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina killing 9 people. Even though
this is currently being investigated as a hate crime (which it is) This also needs
to be labeled as a form of Domestic Terrorism.
Before 9/11, the idea of
terrorism was, no pun intended, foreign to individuals in the United
States. Because 9/11 was the first
incident in the United States that was publicly framed as “a terrorist attack”.
That label, and the “War on Terror” that followed, set a president that only identified
“Terrorism” as something foreign born, outside of the United States. Add to this the racialization of a terrorist
that resembles someone from the Middle East and you have a recipe that cloaks
the compounded White Domestic Terrorism that people of color have felt in the
United States for centuries. From Slavery, lynchings and Jim Crow Laws, to Mass
Incarceration Police brutality and Police Shootings; the violence in South
Carolina is just the latest in a long history of domestic terrorism perpetrated
against people of color.
Yet again, however, the media dance began with
the overall shock and confusion of white pundits and news anchors continuing on
with questions of the shooters sanity.
The “insanity defense” is a classic trope used by the media dance of the
white racial social structure as a way to isolate this incident rather than see
it for what it is; more of the same color- blind white avoidance that has permeated
our history that it seems to value people of color as inadequately less than…disposable.
To illustrate this, ask the question, would we even think of using the “insanity
defense” if the shooter was black? No. To further individualize the incident we
blame the White supremacist group for corrupting what was otherwise a “good kid”.
In the coming weeks and months other phrases will follow, that he was “on the
wrong path” or that he was “misguided”. There will be little or no mention in
the mainstream media dance of this being a symptom of a white supremacism that
has been normalized in our country and masked by our ignorance and desire to be
color blind.
A debate that perfectly epitomizes the normalization of white Supremacy in the United States is the protection of and overall embrace of the the confederate flag. While due to the recent public outcry perceptions have shifted (for the time being). It's continued use, support and reproduction solidifies the dehumanizing of people of color as beloved cultural history among the southern states.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the racial
media dance is far from over. Rachel Dolezal will get a book deal and a
documentary about her, there will be more acts of violence against people of
color both from the authority and from others (probably more in 2015), and even
though some of us are having more nuanced discussions about race today, history
has shown us that it will not last. When
the dance is complete, the polymorphic system of structural racism will once
again temper and cool into a new structure of racial ignorance, ambivalence and
color blindness with the knowledge of these past flare ups of awareness will
provide the structure with teachable moments about how to remain invisible.
[1]
Based upon the work of West and Zimmerman, Judith Butler, and Lisa Wade
[3] As of this writing, in 2015 alone 541 people have been
killed by police in the United States with a majority of them being unarmed
persons of color.
[4] A Stand your
ground case in Florida that resulted in the Acquittal of George Zimmerman for
shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin Feb 2012
[5] Jordan Davis was shot and killed by Michael
Dunn outside of a Convenience store in Florida Nov 2012
[6] The murder of
Michael Brown by police sparked the civil unrest in Ferguson August, 2014
[7] Eric Garner was a
killed by a non-sanctioned police chokehold in New York City in July of
2014. The police officer involved was
not indicted Garners pleads of “I can’t breathe.” Were used during the public outcry
and subsequent protests.
[8] Freddie Gray’s
death while in custody sparked the civil Unrest in Baltimore and fueled the
#BlackLivesMatter campaign April 12th 2015
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