Reflections on Racism

[The following was actually written a while ago; I believe sometime last year. I never published it because I was kind of emotional about it. The events were particularly upsetting because they involved people that I knew or thought I knew and because I didn’t know how to react to them.]

The Jovial Hobo
Over the weekend, our local Food Not Bombs (FNB) group gave out free food as they do every weekend. Black Lives Matter also came out to give away free clothes, gloves, socks, underwear, shoes, and hygiene products. Some wobblies and other radicals came out to support the movements too. After we arrived at the share, I saw someone that I recognized. This person is someone that I’ve known for over a year, had many conversations with, and who even came back to the kitchen to help us clean up after FNB a couple times. The guy is the most jovial homeless man you will ever meet. He always seems happy and talks like he’s fairly educated. But the conversation that was about to take place really caught me off guard.

He remembered that I had moved a while back and he asked me how I liked where I’m currently living. I noted that the community in which I live is comprised mostly of Trump-supporters and that one of my neighbors is quite racist. I recounted the story of the first time I met one of my neighbors, when this neighbor pulled out his phone and started showing a racist propaganda video to one of his kids (he was telling his daughter that she shouldn’t go to college because she would probably get raped by a black man if she lived in the city). I thought that it was self-evident that my racist neighbor was out of his mind, but the jovial vagabond with whom I was speaking saw it quite differently. He interjected, “Well, you know, the guy did have a point. Black people are genetically different; they’ve been cannibals for 20,000 years. You’re lucky to be living in a predominantly white area. At least you are safe there. Just look at what black people have been doing in Chicago.” At first, I thought I had misheard him, but then, as he rambled on, it became impossible to mistake what he was trying to say. I tried reasoning with him. I pointed out that the only difference between races is skin pigmentation, that there is no scientific basis for even distinguishing between races, started talking about genetics, pointed out that cannibalism was actually practiced by all people at some point in history, including Europeans, etc.

In retrospect, there’s probably no use in trying to reason with this kind of person. The disturbing thing is that this guy was bold enough to spout his blatantly racist ideas while a bunch of black people were within earshot. After the Trump epidemic, this kind of blatant racism has become normal. A couple of our friends from FNB are black, and I can’t understand how this guy could believe or say that “all black people are evil” while standing in line waiting for a black woman to give him free food.

Drumpfo the Squatter
This reminds me of an incident a while back, when another individual, who seemed to be normal at first, turned out to be racist. We’ll call him “Drumpfo”. Drumpfo was good friends with a former close friend of ours, whom we’ll call "The Grungy Vagabond." I had talked to Drumpfo for a few hours on one occasion, and he seemed to be pretty intelligent. He was familiar with the ideas of Marxism and anarcho-capitalism, and seemed to be inclined towards some sort of conservative communism, for lack of a better term. He had come over to our house to help cook for FNB. One of our neighbors had stuck a letter on his windshield and asked him to move his van because he was blocking the wheelchair access ramp. However, we happened to be walking out to load up the vehicles while the neighbor was placing the letter, so he introduced himself and explained that his mother lived in the house on the corner and was confined to a wheelchair. He explained that this was the only spot where they could easily get her power chair to the road to load into their van. He politely asked Drumpfo if he could park further up the road next time. This seemed like a perfectly reasonable request to me. The neighbor was nice about it and there were plenty of other places to park. It wouldn’t have been any inconvenience for him to park one car-length further forward. Everything seemed fine.

Fast forward 20 minutes. Drumpfo had put the letter from his windshield into his pocket. Our neighbor had written his number on the letter. As we are giving out food, Drumpfo steps to the side and calls the neighbor’s number from his cell phone. He begins arguing with the guy. He says something along the lines of “you have no right to tell me to move my car” and challenges the guy, saying, “what are you going to do about it if I keep parking there?” In the course of 45 minutes, Drumpfo calls the guy about 15 times. The phone was loud enough that I could hear both ends of the conversation. The guy explains that he is just trying to eat dinner with his family and would appreciate it if Drumpfo would just leave him alone. The guy hangs up. Drumpfo calls him back and doesn’t say anything. He just holds the phone and walks over to me and says, “Listen to this. This guy is crazy. He’s upset for no reason,” as if he was looking to me for confirmation or agreement. Thinking that Drumpfo is clearly the crazy one, I didn’t know what to say. He looks at me and says, “This guy is just being a nigger.” Caught off guard, I didn’t know how to react. Apparently he could tell from my body language and facial expression that I didn’t approve of what he had said or the way he was reacting. When we got back to the house, Drumpfo tried to explain to me how he thought our neighbor was being unreasonable, because, after all, “there’s no law that says that I can’t park there.” We get into a little bit of an awkward conversation, where several of us try to explain to him that what he had said was inappropriate. He goes on to say that he doesn’t think there is anything racist about calling someone a “nigger.” Needless to say, we ended up banning this guy from the house and stopped associating with him.

This guy had moved in with our old housing co-op after we moved out. They actually kicked him out of the co-op, but he refused to leave. He even refused to leave after the lease was up, and remained in the house until the landlord sent the police to have him removed.

The Grungy Vagabond
Now, let’s talk about the Grungy Vagabond who was friends with Drumpfo. Grungy was a friend of ours for quite a while. He used to hang out at our housing co-op all the time. Well, he turned out to be a Donald Trump supporter, which I let slide for a while. After Trump got elected, I was venting and expressing my exasperation and disappointment. A great many of our friends are members of minorities (black, LGBT, immigrant, etc.) that would be negatively impacted by Trump’s policies. I pointed out that some people already struggle with depression and that Trump’s policies would make the situation worse, pointing out that increased suicides among oppressed minorities ought to be blamed on the people that supported and voted for Trump/Pence. Grungy responded by saying that those of us who dislike Trump’s policies should just go kill ourselves. Needless to say, we are no longer friends. (I generally regard Trump supporters as the moral equivalent of Nazis. These people may not have marched people into gas-chambers yet, but they totally would given the right scenario.) The remarkable thing about Grungy Vagabond supporting Trump is that Grungy himself is among those who would be most negatively impacted by Trump’s policies!

Racist Neighbors
I already mentioned one incident with a racist neighbor who tried to convince his daughter not to go to college. Another neighbor had come over to my house on one occasion, and made a racist joke while he was standing in my living room. I didn't really know how to react, and I ended up not saying anything because there were a few other people around and none of them said anything either. On another occasion, this same neighbor's wife posted a picture of them with Mike Pence on social media. And on yet another occasion, I saw that she had shared on social media an anti-Black Lives Matter propaganda article from a racist website.

Middle School Crush
Back when I was in middle school, a "friend" of mine asked me if there were any girls that I liked. (I didn't really have any friends. I just had a few people that I associated with during school.) I said, "I kind of like Ashley So-and-so." In shock, he remarked, "You like a black girl!" This was the first occasion where I remember encountering racism. There were actually two girls in school that I liked, both of whom were black; not necessarily because I had a thing for black girls, but just because I was shy and afraid to talk to girls. The only two girls that really talked to me at school just happened to be black.

America Still Racist As Fuck!
I recount these events partially to vent and partially to note that racism is still very much a problem in America. Lately, I’ve come to realize that most of the white people that I know are racist. I don’t know if I am just becoming more socially conscious and noticing racism more because of that or if the Trump craze has just normalized racism so that racists feel more comfortable being openly racist. Either way, it’s quite disturbing. There is definitely a problem with systematic racism in America and with racism in general. The more time passes, the more I begin to think that most people in America are racist.

The racist epidemic goes hand-in-hand with a general epidemic of pathological ignorance in America. A large part of the American populace, generally identifying as “conservative” or “rightwing,” is in a stupor of delusion driven by confirmation bias. These people are blindly patriotic, economically uninformed, scientifically illiterate, yet strongly opinionated. They have a tendency to deny science. They don’t believe in evolution, nor do they believe in global warming. They tend to believe in superstitious religious nonsense that has actually been scientifically disproven. They want to ban gay marriage, abolish the EPA, cut welfare programs, lower taxes for the wealthy, etc. The tragedy of the Trump era is that the most extreme of these people have taken over our government.

The Challenge
So, the challenge that we face as white people involves learning how to confront racism. I did not feel, on any of these occasions, that I had reacted appropriately to the situation. The worst part is, I don't even know how the hell I ought to have reacted! How are you supposed to react to instances of racism? What are you supposed to say in response to a racist comment? We do have a moral obligation to say something. We have a moral obligation to confront racists. My challenge to you is to have you think about how you ought to react to such instances. Also, give feedback as to how you think one ought to react.