Apparently some Americans found this Superbowl commercial offensive because "America the Beautiful" was sung in different languages.
I saw many people on facebook (mostly white) calling these people out and using the word "racist" quite indiscriminately.
There were (bloodless) calls for social media blood to be spilled.
This got me thinking: is using the word "racist" with equanimity and aplomb part of white privilege?
I'm not white (wouldn't you know). And I think long and hard before I even talk about race let alone use such a loaded term as "racist."
Why?
One look at me, and you would know that I have skin in the game (not white).
I'm not white.
Not white.
Got it? I'm not white. And therefore for me to even talk about race means that I am not objective. I am wholly subjective, biased, non-neutral, and prejudiced.
Because of my not-whiteness, I have no credibility.
To be white is to be untouched by history, free from the shackles of the past, free to disclaim responsibility for the actions of not-my-ancestors, free from the burden of guilt and shame that racism represents--
"I am not responsible. Not my past. Not my history. Not my family. Not my burden."
[I feel like this is the crux of white privilege. White privilege says, "I don't care because I don't have to care. I see you over there carrying this burden, but I don't want to know about it. I'm not interested. I'd rather ignore it. That's your problem that you feel that way. I'm sorry, but it's your choice, not mine. Your burden has nothing to do with me."]
My ethnic ambiguity testifies to my lack of clear-headed thinking about racism. And people don't always respond particularly well when I talk about race or when I use the word "racist."
I've experienced some of this righteous indignation before. I've used the word "racist" relatively casually and been not-so-subtly challenged and rebuked.
I've found that using the word "racist" can shut down entire conversations, entire relationships. Except, looking back, I wasn't the one who used the word.
It was more like, "You think I'm a racist? How dare you."
To be honest, blatant racism doesn't really interest me that much. To quote M. Scott Peck quoting Simone Weil, "Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring."
The word "racist" is the exact opposite: inflammatory, loaded, weighted, the worst thing you could possibly call someone (which, if you notice, is not the same as "the worst thing you could possibly be").
So in a world where calling someone a racist is such a terrible thing (worse than actually being racist), I want to ask:
Is there room to talk about the everyday banality of racism. The ordinary kind. The kind that doesn't make the news?
I ask, if you didn't feel righteous indignation, what would you feel?
What would it mean for "racist" to be merely a descriptor, not the word you hurl at your worst enemies?
What if "racist" wasn't used to shut down conversations, but to start them anew?
