Beyond Black and White

by Teo Beauchamp

Tuesday February 7, 2006

While among white students a black member of the SLC community made a Freudian slip of sorts and said, "I can’t stand white people." This made for an awkward situation and a few people got upset. This black student, who is usually very warm and friendly, felt distressed and embarrassed about what she had said. I, on the other hand, had no problem with the statement. I can’t stand white people either.

By saying that she had problems with white people, I am confident that she did not mean she detested people of European descent. She does not subscribe to Elijah Mohamed’s theory of the white devil. Her statement was simply referring to a certain white consciousness. She was expressing her frustration with white hegemony and white privilege. I completely understand and share this frustration.

There is a difference between white people and people who are white. If you do not understand this distinction you are probably a white person. As a black man, it is very difficult to truly connect with white people. Unlike people who are white, white people are racially awkward. They do not know how to navigate through the terrain of racial politics. When words such as white supremacy or black power come up, they become uneasy and apprehensive. There is something about the discussion of racial politics that scares them.

This is understandable–to face one’s socially conditioned conception of race requires deep introspection as well as thorough social analysis. It is my belief that people who are white, those of European ancestry who do not cringe at racial discussions and who have a relative understanding of the oppressive forces that people of color face, go through this introspection and analysis when their environment challenges them to do so.

If a white person is not challenged, they will remain a white person. America is a country built on the foundation of white supremacy. The same racist institutions and social and political structures that were in place during the country’s founding are in place today–thus the fundamental white supremacy that existed in the past has continued into the present.

Given the racist nature of this country it is no surprise that white people have such trouble dealing with race. White people are rarely racist in a malicious sense, but if a white person goes through life being inundated with America’s relentless racism and not looking at it for what it is, they cannot help but be racist on some level.

In the white liberal community, where racism is so taboo, white people’s racism comes out in strange ways. While presenting a resolution for Ethnic Studies to the student senate at SLC, I was able to witness this clandestine racism in a powerful way. Not that their refusal to pass the resolution makes some white members of senate racist, but the strength of their resistance and their inability to deal with issues of race exposed their deep investment in white privilege.

Some were very upset at the allegation that Sarah Lawrence practices institutional racism. They were far more concerned with protecting the image of the school than hearing the distress of students of color. They called the Ethnic Studies campaign a "hot topic" and discussions of race "dangerous." It is difficult to imagine that a person of color would ever refer to race as a hot topic or dangerous–it occupies too much of our consciousness to be of danger to us. But to a white person who is invested in the unspoken privileges that race provides them, open discussions of race could be very dangerous.

Few people were overtly opposed to Ethnic Studies. To say out loud that they were opposed would undoubtedly make them appear racially intolerant–something no "liberal" would want–but at the same time, few senate members were willing to offer meaningful support. Absurd objections, such as, "we don’t have programs at Sarah Lawrence," were raised. One member was afraid that passing the resolution would make senate look "naïve" and "stupid." I found it curious that the few black members of senate had no problem passing the resolution, in fact they were all thoroughly supportive, yet nearly all of their white counterparts were reluctant on some level.

Other members of the Ethnic Studies campaign and I left that meeting feeling angry and disappointed in the organization that professes to represent the entire student body. They do not represent me, nor do they represent the other students of color. This is another example of students of color being accepted only as long as they do not challenge white privilege. African-Americans are welcome, but uppity niggas got to go.

There is nothing honest about liberal racism and that is very frustrating for people of color. Not that overt racism is something to strive towards, but if racism stays behind a liberal façade the problem will never be solved. At least when conservatives say we don’t like black people, the black community can respond appropriately. But when liberals say they believe in diversity, but at the same time deny people of color their voice and are unable to see them as full and dynamic human beings, they are still the enemy, yet they profess to be an ally.

I doubt that white liberals want to be racist, but they have not dealt with their racial identity and therefore cannot help their racism. It is in no way the responsibility of people of color to educate such racists, (if anything that should be the role of people who are white, but ultimately the responsibility lays on the white person him or herself.)

The line that divides white people and people who are white is in no way a clearly defined dichotomy. It is not as simple as enlightened European-Americans vs. ignorant ones. I am neither a white person nor a person who is white, so my insight into such phenomena is limited, but being an outsider in a society dominated by European Americans it is clear to me that such distinctions exist. While there is no single mold for white people or people who are white, there are psychological and emotional traits that characterize each faction.

Many white people will choose not to address their inner demons. Instead they will walk through the racially laden landscapes of America on their tippy toes. By refusing to look critically at the world around them or within them, white people are doing almost as much damage to themselves as they are to society as a whole. Perpetuating the status quo is not a way of keeping the peace, there is no such thing as peace as long as there is oppression. Once white people get beyond their conditioning, they will undoubtedly come to the realization that they must change and as that drastic and vital change happens, the world will change with them.

This transformation will inevitably occur; my only fear is that it will not happen soon enough. As we see with the recent rioting in France, a people can only be silenced for so long before their humanistic need for a voice can be denied no longer. If white people continue to perpetuate America’s dilution, when reality strikes, it will strike hard.