THE DENIAL OF RACISM
Imagine if the tension we’ve felt since the gruesome and heinous murder of George Floyd was a permanent feature in our lives. Imagine if the rawness of emotions we’ve experienced was always there. Imagine if the difficult conversations we’ve been having became the new normal. Imagine if the guilt and the discomfort we feel never left us. Perhaps in the face of so much anguish and pain, we would have no other choice but to eradicate racism at last. But pain, much like fear, is also a powerful tool for self-preservation. Pain and fear remind us to withdraw from damaging situations and to seek safety. In fact, anything that protects us from stress, trauma, harm or death is an integral part of this mechanism. Perhaps one of the reasons racism is so enduring is that, consciously or unconsciously, we all deny racism as an act of self-preservation.
The Denial Of Death
For most of us, death is in the background of our existence. We don’t worry about dying every time we get in a car, for example, though our odds are pretty high. It is not that we are unaware of our impending death, it’s simply that we know better than to keep it at the forefront of our human experience. We know that becoming hyper aware of our mortality is crippling, as many of us were reminded at least once during our recent extended period of isolation.
Ernest Becker argues that to navigate life, we have to deny death. Otherwise we become hyper-aware of our mortality, which inevitably leads to anxiety and neurosis.
To transcend the limitations of our physical selves, we seek a more expansive human experience through love, passion, heroism, altruism, hedonism, or consumerism. We give our lives a purpose and obsess over our legacies. We build societies and civilizations that we hope will outlive us. We follow religions and beliefs systems that promise us eternal life. We spend billions of dollars in scientific research in pursuit of immortality.
The Denial of Death isn’t the same as denying its existence. It simply means that we use various devices as coping mechanisms, in order to turn this tragedy we call life into the most beautiful play.
Optimism Bias
Scientists believe that our brains are wired to see life as a glass half full. For the most part, we have a positive outlook on our lives. We believe, for example, that we are more likely, on average, to be more successful than our peers and less likely than them to experience negative events in our lives. Psychologists call it Optimism Bias. Although this kind of optimism often leads to poor decision making like texting and driving, it also presents many advantages. An optimistic outlook in life enables us to set goals and go after them. It enables us to navigate life focusing on the bright side, which in many ways contributes to our success and well-being. It enables us to persevere despite the challenges, to take risks and pursue our goals despite the odds. In the face of adversity, our optimistic bias allows us to remain hopeful that things will get better, or at least to believe in our own chances to overcome whatever comes our way.
To become hyper aware of racism means to no longer be able to live another day without denouncing, fighting against or consciously perpetuating it. It means to live in a state of constant hate, fear, anger, pain, discomfort or anxiety. It means to suffer often from cognitive dissonance or paranoia. That’s a pretty miserable existence, both for the oppressors and the oppressed. To some extent, and in our own ways, we all deny racism as an act of self-preservation. To be clear, the denial of racism doesn’t mean denying its existence, much like the denial of death doesn’t mean denying the existence of death.
1. The Myth of White Supremacy
To reconcile slavery with the Declaration of Independence – the idea that all men are created equal – it requires that slavery be justified by some immutable law. To resolve the cognitive dissonance that comes with living in the land of the free, while keeping enslaved a large portion of the population, it requires the belief that racial hierarchy is a natural law. To support and fight for freedom abroad, while sumultaneously fighting for racial segregation at home, demands a powerful mechanism to reconcile these otherwise irreconcilable ideas. It’s impossible to perpetuate violence against someone in whom you recognize yourself, without paying the emotional and psychological price. So it’s necessary to dehumanize the victims, by any means necessary.
Science and religion have played an important role in white people’s denial of racism by providing the moral justification for it. Over time, racial superiority becomes a part of one’s identity. To argue otherwise, is to threaten one’s very existence. In 2017, we saw a group of angry white supremacists march in the streets of Charlottesville with Tiki torches, chanting You will not replace us! in a desperate act of self-preservation. To end racism would cause white supremacists a metaphorical death. But its acknowledgment is damaging to one’s psyche. So the myth of white supremacy plays an important role in resolving this existential dilemma. It becomes a powerful tool for the denial of racism.
2. Moral Apathy
Moral apathy is a privilege afforded to those who benefit from the status quo, or at least aren’t severely affected by it. And it makes sense. Imagine the consequences of acknowledging racism; the guilt that would ensue; the cognitive dissonance; or the unsettling feeling of having to question everything you thought you knew about society and the ideals you hold so dear. It is a lot easier, in fact, to “not go there” and to instead live in apathy. Ignorance is bliss. As long as we continue to live our neatly segregated lives, racism is not something we all have to confront and deal with. Out of sight, out of mind.
Self preservation here also means protecting, consciously or unconsciously, the privileges and advantages that the system in place provides. To acknowledge and denounce racism means risking and sacrificing one’s own interests for the well being of others. It means expanding our responsibility beyond ourselves. But it also means having to face all the ways in which we have been complicit and the role we played in perpetuating a system of injustice and discrimination.
Apathy could also be a manifestation of our optimistic bias. Our denial of racism gives us the illusion that if we are educated, eloquent, compliant, well-groomed, sharply dressed, or successful enough, we will never experience racism. But this, too, is a kind of blissful ignorance.
3. The Power of Love
To be black and somewhat conscious is to live in a constant state of rage – James Baldwin
For Black people and other people of color, racism isn’t some intellectual exercise or philosophical issue. It isn’t a silent thing in the background. It’s a permanent fixture, very much at the forefront of one’s experience. It’s a real threat, with real and often fatal consequences. For many, racism is an inescapable part of daily reality. When your days are punctuated by discrimination and reminders of your supposed inferiority, it becomes a lot harder to cope. The result is a life lived in pain, fear, agony, paranoia and anger. A raw and emotionally draining experience that many of us felt unbearable after only a few days following Georges Floyd’s death. Living permanently in that heightened state of emotion is simply unimaginable for most. It’s a recipe for a very unhealthy and miserable existence. A life where genuine relationships with white people become impossible; where pessimism replaces optimism bias; where those who swore to serve and protect can no longer be extended our default to truth; and where forgiveness and reconciliation are simply out of question. It’s a life without hope for a better future, for ourselves or our children. A life where Martin Luther King’s dream is idealistic at best, and naive at worst. And so the denial of racism becomes a powerful coping mechanism, as well as an act of grace and hope. Choosing love over hate was a cornerstone of Martin Luther King Jr’s teachings. In a 1957 sermon, he preached:
[…] There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates […].
Ultimately, as effective as fear and pain can be to ensure our survival, love remains the most powerful act of self-preservation and the most potent instrument of change. I am not sure where we go from here so I will leave you with one last thought. Not mine, but James Baldwin’s:
Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
