Just how bad is it to be a racist?
On the one hand to be called a racist is pretty bad. Outside of very specific communities, to be called a racist is to be called a hateful, backward person.
On the other hand, everybody, and particularly white people, is probably a little bit racist - i.e. they look at the world through racial lenses. You might call those lenses white privilege or community values or the way you were raised or whatever. But when you look at someone of a different race, you consciously or, more likely, unconsciously put them in a box set up by your history.
Yes, you probably are a little racist, in inclination, if not in action. So am I.
Most of us hopefully avoid acting in a racist manner as best we can. We examine our motivations carefully to avoid being unconsciously racist; recognizing that part of us that is racist and struggling against it.
The problem though is that nobody actually wants to think of themselves as racist - again, there's not many worse things to be called than a racist (witness how people bristle when accused of it). So when you talk about unconscious racism and white privilege, people naturally bristle as it feels like they are being called racists - i.e. hateful and backwards.
I think this is an example of the language not being precise enough. There is a distinction between a racist (someone who looks at the world through race colored lenses (as we all do)) and a Racist (someone who acts on his racial beliefs to denigrate or deny civil rights to others based on the color of the skin).
I don't know of a solution though - and please forgive any lack of precision.
Bryant
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