Will Future Generations Be Racially Neutral?

Dear Sticky Wicket,

When you hear of instances of racial slurs and graffiti occurring in high schools and on college campuses (a second one this week at the University of Missouri, in Columbia), are we fooling ourselves to think we do not need to deliberately and openly address racism? Are we moving into the future with blinders on in believing that future generations will be race-neutral generations?

~Concerned in Columbia

Dear Concerned in Columbia,

Experts from various disciplines seem to concur that for one reason, or the other, many Americans are choosing to believe that race or racism is becoming less of an issue. Even though pervasive conditions and major data trends show that we have not yet become a “post-racial” society, avoidance and lulling ourselves into a state of complacency seems to be the action of choice.

Charles Gallagher, chair of the sociology department at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, says, as a country, we fool ourselves when it comes to beliefs concerning racism. The graffiti and slurs are always there, they just cycle in and out of the news. “The larger problem as race researchers now see it is that an increasing number of white Americans believe we are now a colorblind nation, and the American Creed of racial equality for all has been attained,” he says.

Dr. Gallagher says that white Americans point to the election of Barack Obama as proof of racial egalitarianism, and that cements a widespread belief that we are indeed a colorblind nation.

“People say these events [incidents of racial hatred, slurs, and racism] are anomalies and don’t reflect the body politic, which I believe is a misread,” Gallagher says.

Jacqui Wade, an associate professor of social work and lecturer on African-American studies at Middle Tennessee State University, says that over the last 40 years, society has done a good job making it look like we made significant social change in the racial landscape. Yet, at the same time, society maintained a status quo of white race dominance control.

“Although we now see some African-Americans and other people of color in some positions and places where they were not seen a few decades ago, we have not created the fully multi-cultural, post-racial society that we like to pretend is representative of the presence of such people in such places,” Wade says.

She adds that many white Americans still live their lives without having any significant contact with people of color. Add to that the fact that our popular culture is replete with negative images of African-Americans and other people of color while at the same time showing whites in ‘their rightful superior racial status.’ As a result, children are acculturated to hold on to such beliefs, which are sometimes manifested in slurs and graffiti.

“The idea that we need to openly address racism with our young people suggests that the fault mainly or only lies in behavior,” Wade says. “We rarely address, and better still seek to change the socio-cultural structures, institutions, and perspectives that ultimately under girth the behavior and legitimizes its expression.”

Angela Sims, an ordained minister, and assistant professor of ethics and black church studies at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., says that most people understand how the constructions of race are a crucial part of America’s identity. “If we can ignore the issue of race, then we can ignore the pathologies that are part of our national story, that shape our current issues, and inform the way we approach these issues in the future,” she says.

“If we could shape this dialogue around race, then perhaps we could come to a point where we could forgive each other for past sins, national sins, and move forward in a more hope filled way,” Sims says.

Clearly, when it comes to matters of race, we have a long-way to go to make it a non-issue. It is incumbent upon us to have honest and complete conversations with our children if we expect to make meaningful and lasting strides in eradicating racism and all of its limitations and ugliness.