If you haven’t read Nicholas Kristoff’s column today, “Racism without Racists,” you should. And then ask yourself if you’re a racist.
Prompting the discussion is how some polls are suggesting that whites won’t vote for blacks–like Obama–because of racism.
But how about APAs? Will we vote for blacks? It’s a subject I’ve touched on during the Democratic convention and in discussions about the Bradley Effect (where white voters couldn’t vote for LA Mayor Tom Bradley in his bid for governor). It’s also relevant because of the overwhelming support APAs had for Hillary, which enabled her to win California. Was that support based on love of Clinton? Or a deep-seated distrust of blacks?
Since the primary, many APAs have pledged support for Obama. He’s certainly not the first African American to be supported community wide (SF’s Willie Brown and Kamala Harris come to mind). But that doesn’t mean that we as a community make decisions that are free of racism.
Social psychologists speak of a subtle kind of racism that is unconscious but still there. You don’t even need racial animus. Cross burnings? Old school.
Unlike the overt racism of the KKK, it’s the OK-KK kind we have to worry about. It’s the kind that’s become unconscious and acceptable on some level, not just in our community, but throughout society. Sort of like EPA air and water quality standards. We live in a state of impurity.
Some may say racism is hard to root out because it’s indiscernible. But Kristoff cites research that shows that given job candidates with equal credentials, whites will get the job 76 percent of the time, compared to blacks who are chosen 45 percent of the time.
It’s there.
Or is it?
(And in that last example would the Asian American job candidate get picked over both? From my experience, if it were a TV anchor job and the APA was a woman, that would be a definite YES).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05kristof.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print