Racism Matters

207 Pages·1998·0.68 MB·English

by  W. D. Wright

RACISM MATTERS

RACISM MATTERS
W. D. Wright
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wright,W.D.(WilliamD.),1936–
Racismmatters/W.D.Wright.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–275–96197–4(alk.paper)
1. Racism—UnitedStates. 2. UnitedStates—Racerelations.
I. Title.
E185.615.W78 1998
305.8'00973—dc21 98–11134
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)1998byW.D.Wright
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:98–11134
ISBN:0–275–96197–4
Firstpublishedin1998
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
1. History: What It Is, What It Tells Us 1
2. Racism Matters 17
3. White and Black Alienation in America 37
4. The Experiment That Never Was, 1783–1883 55
5. The Origins and Legitimacy of Black Power 75
6. Yet to Learn about Freedom 91
7. Subtle White Racism 107
8. Racism and the Question of Intelligence I 133
9. Racism and the Question of Intelligence II 151
vi Contents
10. Cognitive Elites and American Division 167
Notes 181
Selected Bibliography 187
Index 191
Preface
In a 1910 article entitled ‘‘The Souls of White Folk,’’ W.E.B. Du
Bois wrote: ‘‘The race problem is not insoluble if the correct answer
is sought. It is insoluble if the wrong answer is insisted upon as it has
been insisted upon for thrice a hundred years.’’1 We are near thefour
hundrethyearoftheoverallexistenceofAmerica,goingbackto1607
and the establishment of the first British colony, and the American
people are still insisting on the wrong answer. Nearly four hundred
years have gone by, and they are still looking in the wrong place for
an answer. The wrong place, as a primary focus, is race, Blackpeople,
and the Black victims of race. Most white people prefer not to look
at the matter in any form or search for an answer anyplace, and there
is a reason for that. Whites have been the primary racists in America,
and it is they who have primarily investedracisminAmerica’shistory,
culture,civilization,andeverydaythinkingandsocialinteraction;they
donotwanttolookinthemirrorandengageincriticalintrospection.
But as contradictory and ironic as it sounds, most Black people,
including most Black intellectuals, insist upon the wrong answer
themselves and search in the wrong place for an answer; that is, they
and other Blacks as the victims of what they, white people, andother
Americans call race. It is not race, but rather racism, and the place
viii Preface
to search for that right answer is white people functioning as racists.
One can see why Whites do not want to look at or in any way touch
this history or conjure up these memories and how they eagerly en-
gage in denial, avoidance, and/or efforts to rationalizeor justifytheir
historical and continuing racist behavior. But another irony is that
Black people, including Black intellectuals, let them get away with
engaging in this kind of behavior, because they themselves do not
focusthoughtorinterestonracismandrarelytalkaboutwhitepeople
as racists or their historical and continuing racist behavior in the
country.
And this contradictory, ironical, and abetting behavior continues.
Just recently President Bill Clinton established a National Advisory
Board on Race. This board has a number of prominent Black people
on it, and these people, intellectuals and/or professionals,proposeto
join hands with white and other intellectuals and/or professionals to
carry out a national discussion—a dialogue, as the president and his
advisors insist—on race, meaning primarily Black people, primarilyas
the victims of race. The president and the board, therefore, are in-
sisting on the wrong answer and will be searching in the wrong place
for an answer. Even if it were argued that the president and his ad-
visoryboardwantedgenuinelytodosomethingpositiveorsignificant
tomitigateorendAmerica’scontinuingdebilitatingmalaise,thefore-
gone conclusion has to be that they will do neither of these things,
because they are not relating to the right subject in the first place, as
a primary focus, which is White racist beliefs, thinking, social behav-
ior, and abusive White racist power—which can only mean that they
willnotproposeorhelptoimplementnational,regional,stateorlocal
programs that will significantly help them achieve their objectives.
Second, their approach of focusing primarily on the wrong matter,
race, and looking for answers in the wrong place, primarily the vic-
timized lives of Black people (or other people of color) will only help
to augment and keep alive in America the White racism that has al-
ways been and that continues to be the primary social malaise of the
country, bringing detriment to Blacks and others in America, includ-
ing many white people, as poor Whites can testify, and to America
itself.
There are Black and White Americans, usually functioning in small
groups, who are presently engaged in what they call racial healing.
President Clinton and his advisory board on race talk of promoting
this among Blacks and white groups in America, too. But this, again,
Preface ix
is looking at the matter in the wrong way and looking for an answer
in the wrong place. The problem in America has never been race,but
rather racism—namely, the way white people have understood and
related to race, either the white race or the black race, or other races
of color. The way they have related to these races has been to glorify
the white race and denigrate and punish all the others. Thus, White
racism and White racist divestment are the places to look for the right
answers. Focusing on these matters will require white people to en-
gage in deep introspection that will lead, one hopes, to individuals
divestingthemselvesoftheirownracism,thatis,toself-alterationand
self-healing. This will then lead to Whites eradicating racism from
their families, from their social groups, from the institutions in which
they function, and from the patterns of social interaction in which
they participate. If the Black and white groups now meetingorform-
ing in the country and the president and his advisory board on race
canpromotebehaviorlikethisamongWhites,thentherecanbesome
serious people healing and bridging in America, and serious things
can be done by the American people, by voluntary groups, and by
their governments and otherinstitutionstomakelifebetter—theway
it is supposed to be in the country.
There are some personal reminiscences in this book, but it is pri-
marily about white people and racism, with a discussion of what ra-
cism is, and how it differs from race. The mainline discussion is of
white people believing, thinking, and acting as racists andusingracist
power in American history, and how these activitieshaveaffectedand
continue to affect American history, culture, and social life. I have
dedicated this book to those white and other Americans who are not
afraid to look at White racism and its creation, White racist America,
and who can see the necessity of looking in these places for answers,
and who want to free America from these old and continuing me-
phitic suppressants. I believe wholeheartedly that the future of Amer-
ica will be as bright and fulfilling as Americans honestly and actively
intellectually, politically, socially, and morally seek to make it.
In closing, the terms black and white are treated in a special way in
this book, representing my effort to provide a better understanding
and to make better use of them. When the word black is spelled in
lowercase,itreferstoraceorcolor.Blackinuppercasereferstoethnic
group, ethnic status, ethnicity, or community, that is, Black ethnic
community. The Black ethnicgroupandtheBlackethniccommunity
are descendants of the Africans brought to this country as slaves be-
x Preface
tween the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and their slave de-
scendants. An individual designated as Black in this work refers to
one who is a member of the Black ethnic group or the Black ethnic
community. Blacks in plural refers to a few, many, or all Black people
who are members of the Black ethnic group or the Black ethniccom-
munity. The phrases black ethnic group or black community refer to
the color or racial attributes of the ethnic group or the ethnic com-
munity, but not references to culture or social life.
The word white receives similar treatment in this book. When low-
ercased, it refers to color or race. When uppercased,itreferstoethnic
group, ethnic status, ethnicity, or community, that is, White ethnic
community.WhitepeopleformalargeWhiteethnicgroupandethnic
community in America forged over the course of their history in the
country. An individual designated White refers to one who is a mem-
ber of the White ethnic group or White ethnic community. Whites
refers to a few, many, or all White people who are members of the
White ethnic group or White ethnic community. The phrases white
ethnic group or white community refer to the color or racial attributes
of the ethnic group or the community, but not references to culture
or social life. White people in the Western world are part of Western
civilization and, therefore, are part of a civilizational group and have
a civilizational status. In this context, and in this book, the word
White refers to an individual who is a member of this civilizational
group. Whites refers to a few, many, or all White people who are
members of this civilizational group.
Sometimes the words white and Whites, or black and Blacks, will
appear in the same sentence or sequence of sentences. All this means
is that I will be referring to white people, alternately, as a race or as
an ethnic or civilizational group in the same sentence or sequence of
sentences. It is similar to referring to America, alternately, by the
words country or nation state in the same sentence or a sequence of
sentences. The peculiar nature of the spelling of white and black in
this book will inevitably cause some confusion. It contradicts the tra-
ditionalspelling,whichislongstandingandwidelyknown.However,
I regard the traditional orthography as being inadequate, causing
great problems for human identity in America. I believe it should be
eradicated from public writing, and I hope to lead the way in achiev-
ing this objective through my own writings.