‘New-Age Racism’… and yes, it’s a thing.

Over the years, the number of laws passed to outlaw racism has risen. So too, has the number of white people, who claim that it no longer exists. “The only race I see is the Human Race”… “It all ended so long ago, why can’t we all just move on?”… “I’m not racist, I’m just being honest, and people these days are too politically correct and easily offended to just deal with it…”

The Problem with most white people lies in how they choose to see Racism. The startling majority want everything to be in black and white – pardon the pun. To them, one is either a) a stark-raving racist lunatic, probably part of the Klan, or b) a normal, law-abiding citizen, who has never committed, uttered, or even thought, anything remotely racist their entire lives. Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not accusing “all white people everywhere, of secretly being hateful bigots and Klan members” – because that kind of Racism is, for the most part, outdated. It has become the evil, distant monster behind which white people hide, comparing their more subtly-hidden beliefs and ways to this foreign thing, firm in the belief that “I’ve never done that, I’m not like that!”…

The same people, of course, are usually the ones who sit in their homes with their white friends, using the infamous phrase; “I’m not racist, but…“. Thus, we’ve come to the true crux of the matter:

White people tend to believe that not racist and privately racist are interchangeable terms.

The middle class white sees ‘not being racist’ as an achievement in its own right, as something to be proud of, and defensively announce during Race Debates, Social Studies classes, and while talking to their friends in an attempt to absolve their consciences whenever the topic arises. I will not delve into every single fault and detail on the subject just yet, but I think I’ve made my point…

To end off, a fitting quote from Chimananda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah:

“Racism should never have happened and so you don’t get a cookie for reducing it.”

Until Next Post

T.J.G