OK, I'm going to have a short thread on racism despite being white & thus incur the wrath and dismissal of a certain kind of anti-racist who works on standpoint epistemology. I don't care.

I think we're too busy arguing about what racism is eg, whether it is attitudes held by individuals who can be expected to do better or whether it is a system that we're all socialised into & that white people thus find hard to see but need to take the lead in dismantling.

I think that distinction is the important one but what matters most when addressing racism is what will make it go away fastest. I think that to answer this, we need to accept that progress has already happened & look at how it happened so we can continue doing it.

So, will racism go away fastest if we continue the liberal norm of seeing it as an attitude that some individuals hold and that liberal society largely regards as reprehensible & shameful and so being racist is likely to result in the loss of respect & status in polite society?

Or will racism best be addressed if we see it as something that everybody is socialised into and so not being racist simply isn't an option. The way to be a good person is to admit to one's racism & constantly seek ways to spot it in yourself & others & call it out?

My answer to this is largely pragmatic & psychological. I think the liberal view where one can choose not to be racist and society generally expects people to make that choice is the way to make racism go away faster.

I understand the Social Justice stance on this which is a concern that it will lead to complacency & an unwillingness to be introspective but just seize the easy option of being 'not racist' by not doing or saying anything that is overtly racist.

They fear that this will lead to a wilful ignorance and blindness to racism and a temptation to just pretend everything is OK now and we are post-racist. They think to avoid this we must keep constantly looking for and rooting out hidden racism that lurks everywhere.

I don't think this follows. It's too simplistic. People don't need to either examine themselves for racism constantly even when not conscious of it OR just say 'Racism is bad. I don't see race" and then never think about racism again or have any self-awareness.

I think we can decide that racism is bad & choose not to be racist and to oppose racism but also be introspective when called for. Were you surprised to learn that a black person was a lawyer? Why were you? Give that thought. Internally. No need for public penance. It won't help

Because the reality is that racism is not natural to us. Tribalism is & we can make this about race but in most times & places we have not done so. Racism actually is a cultural construct that allowed justifications of colonialism & slavery. We can get rid of it.

Therefore, children have to be taught to be racist. If they grow up in a society that says racism is an attitude held by people who don't merit respect & that they can choose to reject racism & that this is a necessary condition of being a good person...

...this is likely to be internalised much more easily than being told that if they are white, they are racist whether they want to be or not. I think people can be socialised to be racist & growing up being told you are racist is quite likely to result in this becoming true.

Yes, precisely. I know they'd also be taught this is a bad thing and that they need to fight it & most will but some won't. https://twitter.com/BasKromhout/status/1266872921349382149

But this works on an even more granular level.If kids are raised being told they believe specific negative things about non-white people - less intelligent,less ethical, less competent to hold positions of power & authority - this will take root even if they're told it's not true

Whereas they have the option of growing up not ever being taught these assumptions at all if society overwhelmingly rejects such ideas & socially punishes expressing them with a loss of respect & status.

Of course, it's the kids who aren't white who will be affected most profoundly by growing up learning that a majority white society regards them as inferior. They might get angry & reject that but they might just internalise it or at least expect to fail & be devalued.