News and Editorials

Not Your Father's Racism Anymore?

It's "not your father's racism anymore" --- or is it?

AsianWeek's monumental mistake ("Why I hate Blacks") is a classic of old racial stereotyping. Only this time it's not White on Black racism, it's Asian on Black.

Those egregious stereotypes aren't new, but they do illustrate what we are likely to see increasingly as demographics change.

Inter-group prejudice between people of color has always existed. The Bay Area now has no "majority" of anyone.  So scraping away the old layer of "oppression by majority Whites" model, you can now see the other regrettable forms of bias, too.

This MUST change. It can. SVCCJ actually has proven technology to do so (see our programs pages for a hint as to how effective this can be). But only if we're willing to face racism - by any group and in any direction - and make change happen.

Let's face some hard facts of life here: Stuff happens, people get hurt and scared, competition for space and money and resources or safety can be intense - even here in America. So when pressed or alarmed our first survival reaction is to  try to separate the threats from the supports - friend from foe. This is the human psychological basis that results in stereotyping, bias and even lashing out in hatred. Whom we see as alien, the "other", is learned and so are the "acceptable" behaviors toward people different from ourselves. Racism has most of its roots here, but it does NOT have to grow.

Our brains permit us to slow down that automatic survival reaction, to better discern what is a real threat from what is only imagined or false, to find ways toward that win-win situation for both parties. This makes room to replace the threatened surivival reacition with that other hard-wired human behavior that also has major survival value: cooperation.

We are not creatures that survive by cutthroat competition alone; we are social animals that must cooperate in order to thrive. The choice is ours, when we're willing to make it.

Stereotyping is at best a quick mental shorthand that helps us choose how to behave toward others based on very little direct knowledge of them as individuals. Unfortunately, it's got a very high failure rate with really nasty consequences! When we participate in or tacitly permit stereotyping, even as humor, we create that prejudicial mindset that reaches for the negatives first and fastest.

Was that AsianWeek column just satire? That's doubtful, given the body of work of that particular columnist. It isn't funny in any case, and hats off to the Asian-American organizations and individuals who called this one a foul right away.

Should the publisher have known better? I'd say that someone of a minority community that has faced bitter prejudice should indeed know better than to serve as a conduit for racism against others.

Is it a "free speech/press" issue? Sure, on one level voicing racist opinions (as facts, no less!) can be framed as free speech. The bottom line is that you are free to voice your opinions in America, but you are also subject to the consequences. 

Is that "political correctness" run amok? Hardly. Unless you enjoy human misery and conflict.

It might have been an interesting story to illustrate the complexity of relations between Asian-Americans and African-Americans in our American cities. It's a simmering issue in many communities and one that needs to be addressed. Maybe it doesn't "sell papers" as well as a catfight, but it doesn't invite lawsuits and withdrawal of sponsors either. So I'll make the economic argument in favor of better reporting in the long run.

Let's hope that AsianWeek and all our media - general or ethno-specific - do better next time. They'll certainly have the opportunity!

Bart A. Charlow, President
Silicon Valley Conference for Community & Justice