Racism, manifesting itself in racial discrimination, is rightly recognized as one of the biggest blights of human society, having probably reached one of its most notorious heights with the Nazi race theories and atrocities of the Second World War. For Africans and people of immediate African descent, the encounter with racism has, of course, a long and painful history, most exemplified by the slave trade and related institutionalized slavery in America, Europe and elsewhere. That being said, it is equally true that the post-war period saw a great deal of effort and resources being channeled, particularly in the Western world, into the battle to combat, if not eradicate, this evil – efforts that led, among other breakthroughs, to the notable adoption by the United Nations of the landmark Universal Declaration Of Human Rights (1948) expressly condemning racism and prohibiting the adoption of racially discriminatory laws by Member States.
It is against the foregoing background, that I would like to share with you during this Black History Month some thoughts I have as to how Black and White people can together escape – indeed break – the shackles of systemic racism, the serious and consequential kind of racism that seems built into the system itself and not just ad hoc. Actually, the irony of the situation sketched out above, namely, that the persistence of racism in many of the concerned countries and situations is not necessarily for want of efforts to eradicate it, but often in spite of them, provides a good take-off point for our discussion.
Take the case of the United States, for example, where there is, of course, a long history of racial issues, incidents and even conflicts. There is, however, also, as we know, a long history of actions, legislative and political, movements and campaigns to combat it, including, of course, the great Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and 70s, all with some notable results, especially as regards dismantling the structures and institutions of overt racial discrimination. However, as recognized even by then-President Biden upon his election in 2020, the reality is that, despite all these efforts and the undeniable progress made, there remains an underlying systemic racism in society that refuses to go away and so continues to manifest itself in various ways on the ground: the George Floyd and George Floyd-type incidents, the near legitimization and “mainstreaming” of “white supremacy” ideologies and movements, showcased in the January 6, 2020 Capitol insurrection, and so on.
So, the question becomes why all these efforts over many decades have failed to defeat or excise this social evil. My book OF BLACK SERVITUDE WITHOUT SLAVERY, The Unspoken Politics Of The English Language, in proffering a totally new approach to dealing with the systemic racism problem,addresses this particular question by pointing out that the difficulty so far lies in the nature of the problem and the efforts directed at it. I argue, inter alia, that racism, as people encounter it, is an outward expression of the perpetrator’s racial bias mindset, which no amount of clamping down on discriminatory acts, whether in jobs, schools, housing or social interactions, such as has been the case hitherto, can effectively address: only actions targeting the mindset can be relevant.
The first thing then is to try and identify the factors that create and sustain this mindset. Here, we find Language to be a major culprit, serving both as repository as well as efficient purveyor of racial bias through generations, which then goes on, whether intended or not, to create a racial bias mindset in its users.Thus,using English as an illustration, while not exempting from similar “guilt” other European languages of international influence such as French, Spanish and Portuguese, one can easily show that embedded in that language is a systemic denigration of “black(ness)” and corresponding glorification of “white(ness)”, that is manifested and amplified in such expressions as blacklist, black sheep, painting someone black, for example, and white list, white knight, white lie, and more. There is, in short, a “blackness of bad/whiteness of good, badness of black/goodness of white” narrative that runs through the language, and necessarily all thinking in that language, in which “black” basically denotes “bad” and “white”, in turn, denotes “good”. Such a narrative, imbibed over a period (often from birth), and reinforced by everyday usage, must undoubtedly create in users of the language a mindset that is conditioned, subconsciously at least, to shun “black” things while instinctively embracing things designated as “white”.
In such a scenario a black person becomes routinely subsumed – subconsciously or otherwise – into the general category of “black”, and, therefore, “bad”, things, which, in turn, triggers the preprogrammed negative reaction in the other person, regardless of conscious intentions. The white person, too, being also an integral part of the same conditioning system, and indeed its main beneficiary, would likewise get subsumed, subconsciously or otherwise, but this time into the category of “good” things, that, in turn, implicitly “entitles” him or her to favorable or “sympathetic” treatment, which may explain the long-observed phenomenon of decidedly unequal treatment of black and white persons in law enforcement, not just by the police and prison authorities, but often even by judges.
One can actually argue from the preceding that systemic racism is more like a social system into which people are indoctrinated by fate (e.g. birth) or by circumstance and then held entrapped therein by the mindset they thereby acquire! That being the case, the suggestions outlined below provide a reasonable and cost-free way out for everyone concerned, society at large included.
So, what is the solution? The solution, I suggest, is to eliminate the “blackness of bad/whiteness of good” narrative and its related mindset by removing from this context, and from ALL figurative expressions such as those noted above,therace-designating terms of “black” and “white”. What are they even doing here? Their use here is totally unnecessary, damaging and arbitrary: a lie, for instance,can neither really be “black” nor “white”, since it has no physical form! Substituting other terms not associated with racial designations for these two terms will not only render the “blackness of bad…” narrative meaningless, but reaffirm the terms “black” and “white” as value-neutral and, so, mindset irrelevant, as they should be. It would also end these terms unintended role of reinforcing racial bias as part of everyday conversation.
For obvious reasons, such substitute terms should be newly-created, free of prior baggage. Examples, strictly as illustration, could be something like dronche, for “black” and freen, for “white”, giving us expressions like “dronche sheep” and “dronche list”, in the case of “black”, and, in the case of “white”, “freen knight”, and “freen magic”, and so on. Naturally, these terms, being unfamiliar, will at first appear strange, and even nonsensical; however, with time and the requisite will they should become normalized and, more importantly, be imbued with the meanings we have chosen for them, just like other invented new terms in the language: “Ms.”, “phishing”, “meme” and others, being examples.
The idea here is that upon successful implementation of such substitutions, it would not be long before the older generation, no longer operating in the “bad is black, good is white” milieu and mindset, would have these connections erased from its consciousness, while for the new-born generations no such linkages would ever have existed in their consciousness, therefore, leading us, in principle, to a complete and permanent solution of the systemic racism problem.
The additional merit of this solution is the fact, of course, that it costs next-to-nothing to implement, unlike other “social justice” undertakings, and would thus appeal even to budget-conscious conservatives! Moreover, this is a solution that will be welcomed by all involved: no longer does the black person have to endure the psychological humiliation and stigma of sharing “labels” with everything bad, ugly and evil, while the white person will be relieved of the awkwardness of being compelled, for want of alternatives, to use terminology which they can sense is demeaning to the other person.
Let me note, once again, that the focus in this analysis on the English language is merely strategic: as the dominant international communications medium, it can do – and no doubt has already done – serious damage, spreading the narrative and mindset globally; it can, on the other hand, likewise positively transmit any correction through a large swathe of the global population. Moreover, any reform of English would exert enormous pressure for change on the other languages. This well-known French adage, for example, speaks volumes and requires no commentary: “La diable n’est pas aussi noir qu’ on le dit!”, translating essentially as “The devil is not as black as he is made out to be!”
Finally, while no one can say for certain that successful implementation of the solution envisaged here would in and of itself solve all of society’s racism problem, one can, however assert with utmost confidence that no fundamental or enduring resolution of the problem seems remotely possible without addressing the underlying mindset issue that this solution targets! #BADISNOTBLACK&VICEVERSA
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