I recently went to a Tim Wise event where he spoke about racism, white supremacy, and bigotry. He touched on a lot of issues related to racism and how different racism is now compared to thirty, forty or fifty years ago.
“…there is one thing that can be said for such folks in the old days. When they were bigots, they were honest enough to just tell you. No prevarication, no hesitation, no pretending to be enlightened or remotely compassionate, no cloying assurances about one’s black friends, or how they once dated an Asian woman, or about being 1/16th Native American on their mother’s father’s side. They let you know where they stood, and however offensive and injurious their attitudes were, at least you could plan accordingly. You could avoid them, confront them, or plot for their overthrow, but either way, you knew who the enemy was.” Tim Wise
People hide their racist comments, feelings, or beliefs and use the “gray area” or “fake niceness” as forms of racism. In a way, this is a step forward because they know their feelings or beliefs are either or wrong or not accepted by most members of society. Instead, they choose to display or deliver their true feelings of hate and ignorance in other ways, like supporting racist politicians at the voting booths, writing racist remarks on the Internet, and finding simple reasons to dislike people that are “different.”
Donald Trump, one of the most culturally ignorant public figures in the U.S. is currently running for president and as of October 2015, is the Republican party’s front runner for the presidency. He is leading several political polls and that requires a strong following. By supporting such an ignorant and hateful person, his supporters fall into the grey area category of bigotry and racism. I’ve yet to meet someone in my community that openly identifies as a Donald Trump supporter and I find this fascinating. How can a man that is leading political polls requiring thousands of supporters not have a single soul that openly admits to backing his ideas and beliefs? These people are our neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances. They work at our schools, court rooms, hospitals, and restaurants.
I hate racism but I hate the grey area of racism even more.
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