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Structural Racism and Colorblind Ideology
Structural Racism and Colorblind Ideology
Structural Racism: A Pervasive Force
Structural racism impacts every facet of life:
Jobs and employment
Wealth accumulation
Experiences of discrimination
Educational opportunities
Criminal justice system
Media representation
Housing availability
Healthcare access (including mental health)
Insurance agencies
Access to loans and banking services
Manifests as racial disparity across these domains.
The Ideological Battle: Structural Racism vs. Colorblindness
Over the last 40 years, a conflict has emerged between two narratives:
Structural racism: acknowledging systemic racial inequalities.
Colorblindness: the belief that ignoring race will lead to equality.
Defining Structural Racism
Structural racism is the normalization and legitimization of dynamics that advantage whites while producing adverse outcomes for people of color.
These dynamics are:
Historical
Cultural
Institutional
Interpersonal
The effects are cumulative and chronic.
Understanding Colorblind Ideology
Colorblindness argues that racial equality can only be achieved by ignoring race.
Rejects racial categorizations and record-keeping.
Advocates for no distinctions based on race.
Assumes that race is not currently a factor.
Resistant to acknowledging or measuring racial disparities.
Presumes racial hierarchies are not already in place.
Rejects policies designed to redress past discrimination.
Views affirmative action-like programs as problematic.
The Supreme Court has curtailed efforts to remedy past discrimination based on colorblind ideology.
The Logic of Colorblindness: A Self-Check
Individuals may rationalize colorblindness by thinking:
Most people believe in racial equality, including myself.
Laws have outlawed discrimination.
I don't see color, so I can't be racist.
I don't receive special benefits based on whiteness.
Therefore, racism isn't causing inequalities.
The Focus on Behavior
Colorblind ideology attributes racial inequalities to individual behavior.
Assumes no structural impediments exist.
Imputes cultural limitations to those experiencing discrimination.
Disparity in Perceptions of Racial Equality
A study by Lawrence Bobo revealed significant differences in perceptions of racial equality:
61% of whites believe equality has already been achieved.
An additional 20% of whites believe it is on the horizon.
Only 17% of Black people think equality has been achieved.
36% of Black people think it is on the horizon.
This gap in perception hinders the consciousness needed to fight structural racism.
This difference in perception can lead to a rejection of policies that would counter structural racisim.
Colorblindness and Public Narrative
The mainstream narrative, driven by colorblindness, uses strategies to downplay structural racism.
Structural Anomalies
: Treat incidents as isolated events.
Examples: "The criminal justice system works; sometimes it doesn't.", "It was just a procedural thing."
The One Bad Apple
: Attribute issues to individual rogue actors.
Demonization of the Victim/Community
: Marginalize victims to normalize the status quo.
Example: Referencing Freddie Gray as the son of an uneducated heroin addict to devalue his humanity and normalize what happened to him.
Impediments to Addressing Structural Racism
Even if structural racism is acknowledged, challenges remain:
Discrimination continues in new forms and practices.
Example: Subprime lending as the inverse of redlining.
Colorblind ideology hides what's going on and blames personal behavior.
The "special favors" narrative resists policies designed to counter structural racism.
The Housing Structural Racism Work Project
Aims to tell the story of structural racism in a way that builds emotional momentum.
Focuses on five key areas:
Media
Criminal Justice
Housing
Wealth
Education
These areas are interconnected and designed to reproduce disparities.
The system is not a one-off or a bad apple, but a history of intentional constant reproduction through different mechanisms.
They are interactive and interconnected along multiple pegs.
These spheres reinforce each other.
The goal is to explain that the system is designed to reproduce these disparities.
Housing as a Central Gear
Policies have historically created and constrained black communities.
These policies:
Devalue communities and property owners.
Create hurdles for home and business ownership.
Transfer risks, creating pockets of privilege and buffer zones.
Disaccumulate troubles and problems from one area and hyper-accumulated in communities of color.
Redlining
Redlining, through the Homeowners Loan Corporation and the FHA (1933-1977), used a color-coded system to determine loan eligibility.
Green areas (A rating) were all-white neighborhoods.
Red areas were neighborhoods with black residents, deemed ineligible for loans.
Partnerships between government and private businesses transferred value and privilege to whiteness.
George Lipsitz calls this a possessive investment in whiteness.
This investment in whiteness meant people wanted to hold on to it and protect it.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968
Banned discrimination, intimidation, coercion, racial steering, blockbusting, and redlining.
Aimed to level the housing playing field.
Richard Nixon, however, was not supportive and called it forced integration.
Between 1974 and 1983, no money was withheld from cities practicing housing discrimination.
Highlights the danger of relying on laws without enforcement.
The Logic of the Ghetto
The logic of the ghetto is that it is an intentional construction.
Practices, policies and behaviors created fragile, deprived and burdened neighborhoods.
These neighboorhoods carry accumulated disadvantages produced in other parts of society.
Interconnected Spheres
The power and legacy of housing discrimination is much more powerful when you think about it in relationship to the spheres that are around it.
Housing and Education
Public schools are funded through property taxes.
Lower home ownership rates and property values in black communities result in less funding for schools.
Undermines the idea of education as a great leveler.
Housing and Criminal Justice
Segregation facilitates racialized policing and surveillance.
Allows for two-tiered systems to exist unnoticed.
Enables practices like the War on Drugs and stop-and-frisk in segregated communities.
Housing and Wealth
Housing is a significant source of wealth transfer.
Transferring wealth away from minority communities into white communities has been significant intergenerationally.
Housing and Media/Culture
Fixation on culturalization of black ghetto life.
The ghetto is understood as a black cultural space, not a structural formation.
Understood as street culture and gangs and drugs and guns and sex trade.
It becomes not a form of structural racism, not a form of deprivation of circumstances and oppression, but a kind of cultural choice.
Points of Entry
Despite the daunting nature of structural racism, there are points of entry for change.
The Ban the Box Movement
Aims to outlaw the requirement for individuals with a criminal record to disclose it on job and housing applications.
Seeks to remove the stigma and barriers faced by formerly incarcerated individuals.
Has expanded to prevent the destabilization of families and communities.
Fair Lending Organizations
Work to combat discriminatory lending practices.
Some counties require developers to include affordable housing in their projects.
Conclusion
There's no way we're going to know all there is to know about structural racism, so we want to keep learning and keep growing.
Visual and emotional engagement can bring these ideas to the public. Thank you very much.
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Explore Top Notes
Methods for Conducting Sociological Research
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Studied by 11 people
5.0
(1)
Chapter 15 - Statistical Data Handling
Note
Studied by 17 people
5.0
(1)
ÍSLE3DD05 - Lokapróf
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Studied by 38 people
5.0
(1)
Extinction
Note
Studied by 7 people
5.0
(1)
Ionic and Covalent Bonds
Note
Studied by 25 people
5.0
(1)
AP Euro: Unit 14.3.1 - Modernity and Imperialism
Note
Studied by 104 people
5.0
(2)