Everybody is Racist

Everybody is racist? Not me, you might say. I would argue that being non-racist isn’t even really possible. Our brains work in ways that lead to stereotypes, generalizations, and racist assumptions. Ouch!

Race is of course a huge subject in South Africa. We’re all aware of apartheid and its horrors. The first majority government, with Nelson Mandela as President, was elected in April 1994. So, was that an end to racism? Hardly!

Racism comes in many different forms. Sometimes it's subtle, and sometimes it's overt. Sometimes it's violent, and sometimes it's harmless, but it's definitely here. It's something that I think we're all guilty of, and we just have to make sure that we deal with our own personal racism in the right way. (Jordan Peele)

What is racism exactly? The short OED definition, which I would argue is too narrow, is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior”. I don’t believe that anyone else’s race is inferior to mine. Not rationally anyway. But in my first thought of someone, my first reaction to them, my preferences, my biases – I’m not so sure.

Meeting so many people of different races in South Africa brought this home to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them, or thought them inferior, or less intelligent or anything like that. But the differences are real and I reacted to them in (to me) surprising ways. Have you ever caught yourself seeing someone with a different skin color for the first time and assuming something about their education level, abilities, sense of rhythm, athleticism, wealth, or anything else?

Actually, it isn’t surprising. Sociologists and psychologists generally agree that our reactions are formed by our environment, especially our upbringing. If our parents and our peers make assumptions that are based on race, then we will tend to adopt those assumptions, quite unconsciously. We generalize – that is we apply previous experiences and learnings to new situations, and make initial assumptions and judgments based on these generalizations. Only when we really get to know someone do we get past these initial summary judgments and focus on the specific – the specific person whose skin color has become simply one of their beautifully unique characteristics.

My first full day in Cape Town I met a wonderful young man called Tsepo. His mother is Swazi and his father is Sotho, and he grew up on a farm in Kwa-Zulu Natal. After a career in animal protection (park ranger, etc) was cut short by injury, he found himself leading walking tours in Cape Town. I found myself surprised that he knew so much history, zoology, culture and politics. Why would I have been surprised? Because my upbringing and experiences led me to assume a lower level of education for someone with a black skin. Isn’t that racism in a more general sense?

A couple of books have impacted me on this too. The first, which I read before I went to South Africa, is called “My Traitor’s Heart” by a journalist named Dawid Malan. He is a descendant of two of the key creators and instigators of apartheid. But he rebelled against his family’s prejudices and worked tirelessly against apartheid and for the protection of oppressed black Africans. A theme throughout the book, though, is his awareness of his own subtle racism and how difficult it is to shed the stereotypes and assumptions of his youth.

Another, read after I returned, is Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”. If you’re familiar with Trevor Noah’s stand-up comedy, you’ll know what to expect. Either way I thoroughly recommend this book, which is very informative and alternates horror and humor in a way only Noah could pull off. He talks about the complexities of race and racism from a very personal perspective. He is not black because his father is white. He is not white because his mother is black. He is not colored because he isn’t descended from the original Cape Coloreds or other long-standing racial intermarriage. He is mixed-race, which is to say he is nothing specific. He experiences racial assumptions and prejudice and discrimination from all sides. Definitely worth a read!

So what can we do about the fact that in some sense at least we are all racist?

1. We can recognize that our human brains use generalization to create our first reactions to new people. We can catch ourselves making assumptions that are unjustified, simplistic or just plain wrong.
   
2. We can focus on getting to know an individual person before deciding or judging what kind of person they are. If we’re not in a position to know someone well enough to see them as unique creations, loved and valued by God, then we need to suspend judgment altogether.
   
3. We can teach our children to see people the way God sees them. Each person is a uniquely crafted masterpiece, made in God’s own image, and every bit as valuable as we are. Of course, to teach it, we have to model it. Words are cheap, consistent actions not so much! By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, it is possible to treat people as Jesus did – regardless of race, social-economic standing, etc.

We must treat the disease of racism. This means we must understand the disease .(Sargent Shriver)

I visited South Africa for many reasons. Understanding a little more about race was one of them. I learned a lot about myself that I didn’t want to know, but that’s the nature of growth. Mostly I learned more about how much I don’t understand. There is so much more to learn, and so many more adventures to have in the process!