This is my response to a post written in one of my classes concerning racial profiling and interracial relationships.
The "problem areas" where we see the high occurrences (according to statistics) of racial profiling happens in areas where there is a large minority population and high number of violent crime incidences. This tends to be in lower-class/poverty areas. Which makes sense: discontent breeds animosity and desperation which fuels criminal activity. So where people discuss racial profiling, it's really less about race and more about socioeconomic status. Basically, it's not like police are in a primarily White neighborhood picking out the Black community members and ignoring the Whites. They're in lower-class, high-crime neighborhoods that have predominantly minority/ethnic residents. Stereotyping happens. It does and I'm not excusing it. But I think it's important that people remember that it goes beyond Black and White (I meant for the double meaning).
White people face a problem these days, as well, and that's "white guilt". White guilt occurs when members of minority groups believe that (and expect that) White people should feel guilty about all of the injustices that occur in the world against minority groups. White people can't get away from it. If we're not outright racist, we're told that we're latently racist because of "white privilege". And this builds resentment and aids in reinforcing the gap between groups of people. How are we (humans) supposed to fix anything when one group feels like they are being discriminated against (and it's not necessarily just minority members who feel this type of racial/socioeconomic discrimination) and/or blamed for the actions of other people? When a group of people (in this case White people) are made to feel that they shoulder guilt for other peoples' behavior, both before (especially before) emancipation, as well as simply guilty by association of race, there will always be conflict. Many groups of people forget that all groups have gone through hardships. For example, I'm Swedish-American. When my ancestors got here, we were treated like horse-shit. Swede Hollow in St. Paul was a disgusting shanty tenement where living conditions were absolutely horrible - no sewage system, no electricity, building codes weren't enforced, and there were pretty much no city services to speak of. It was nestled in a ravine, only one way in and out, beneath the city streets of St. Paul. It existed from 1850-1950 and at one point there were horse-drawn carriages ... when it rained, there was really only one place that the trash and horse-poop water would travel to and well, gravity works wonders where ravines are concerned. Swedes all across America were seen as lower class and often treated like gutter trash by members of the upper class. What I'm getting at is that everybody's ancestors, (hell, even the members of Great Britain went through multiple instances of being conquered/violated by other groups, such as the Romans, Normans, Vikings, Germans, etc.) faced incredible hardship at one time, by the hands of another group. It's not like Whites aren't discriminated against by police (or even by each other), because as I mentioned above, there isn't just racial discrimination but also socioeconomic, sex/gender, religious discrimination, etc., but we don't really hear about that in the media. And I think that is where part of the problem lies - the media. I've talked to people in Melbourne, to get their perspective on us, and they basically think most of us (those that they have had direct contact with are usually the exception) are all white-trash, gun-wielding, trigger happy rednecks...who don't believe in affordable health care! They believe this because it's what they have seen in world- and social media.
The "problem areas" where we see the high occurrences (according to statistics) of racial profiling happens in areas where there is a large minority population and high number of violent crime incidences. This tends to be in lower-class/poverty areas. Which makes sense: discontent breeds animosity and desperation which fuels criminal activity. So where people discuss racial profiling, it's really less about race and more about socioeconomic status. Basically, it's not like police are in a primarily White neighborhood picking out the Black community members and ignoring the Whites. They're in lower-class, high-crime neighborhoods that have predominantly minority/ethnic residents. Stereotyping happens. It does and I'm not excusing it. But I think it's important that people remember that it goes beyond Black and White (I meant for the double meaning).
White people face a problem these days, as well, and that's "white guilt". White guilt occurs when members of minority groups believe that (and expect that) White people should feel guilty about all of the injustices that occur in the world against minority groups. White people can't get away from it. If we're not outright racist, we're told that we're latently racist because of "white privilege". And this builds resentment and aids in reinforcing the gap between groups of people. How are we (humans) supposed to fix anything when one group feels like they are being discriminated against (and it's not necessarily just minority members who feel this type of racial/socioeconomic discrimination) and/or blamed for the actions of other people? When a group of people (in this case White people) are made to feel that they shoulder guilt for other peoples' behavior, both before (especially before) emancipation, as well as simply guilty by association of race, there will always be conflict. Many groups of people forget that all groups have gone through hardships. For example, I'm Swedish-American. When my ancestors got here, we were treated like horse-shit. Swede Hollow in St. Paul was a disgusting shanty tenement where living conditions were absolutely horrible - no sewage system, no electricity, building codes weren't enforced, and there were pretty much no city services to speak of. It was nestled in a ravine, only one way in and out, beneath the city streets of St. Paul. It existed from 1850-1950 and at one point there were horse-drawn carriages ... when it rained, there was really only one place that the trash and horse-poop water would travel to and well, gravity works wonders where ravines are concerned. Swedes all across America were seen as lower class and often treated like gutter trash by members of the upper class. What I'm getting at is that everybody's ancestors, (hell, even the members of Great Britain went through multiple instances of being conquered/violated by other groups, such as the Romans, Normans, Vikings, Germans, etc.) faced incredible hardship at one time, by the hands of another group. It's not like Whites aren't discriminated against by police (or even by each other), because as I mentioned above, there isn't just racial discrimination but also socioeconomic, sex/gender, religious discrimination, etc., but we don't really hear about that in the media. And I think that is where part of the problem lies - the media. I've talked to people in Melbourne, to get their perspective on us, and they basically think most of us (those that they have had direct contact with are usually the exception) are all white-trash, gun-wielding, trigger happy rednecks...who don't believe in affordable health care! They believe this because it's what they have seen in world- and social media.
Where White people want to be allies in fights that different races/ethnicities must fight, they are often apprehensive and feel like they can't be, simply because they are White. And I think this behavior on the behalf of minorities, as well as the behavior of Whites fearing that they will step wrong, really needs to change. I think there is a fundamental problem when it comes to the understanding of every group involved. I don't usually quote others when writing discussion posts because they aren't meant to be formal, but in this case I would like to make an exception. Judith N. Martin (2002) quotes Gloria Yomato who wrote "For people of color: Remember...various groups have been oppressed in a variety of ways. Educate yourself about the ways different peoples have been oppressed and how they've resisted that oppression. Expect and insist that Whites are capable of being good allies against racism..." (p. 367). Her point here is that there isn't a reason why people should not help each other out, and that every group has had their hardships, regardless of race. Those who hold power should be embraced if change is desired because they have the ability to help create the change. Why wouldn't you want to befriend people who can help you?! We need to go into these fights as allies that recognize this. To alienate Whites because they aren't Black and don't understand the Black person's hardships will just create more problems, not solve any. As I've watched the happenings between the police and suspected racial profiling cases, as well as some of the acts of the Black Lives Matter movement members, I can't help but feel that this needs to really be remembered. What happened to Africans that were enslaved was absolutely, 100% deplorable. The behavior of racist people is not acceptable. But it is not okay to expect people to support one group when they are also expected to feel guilt for something they had absolutely nothing to do with. And I think that right there is the major obstacle when it comes to propagating positive inter-racial relationships.
My opinion might not be popular, there are plenty of people who could throw a number of blanket statements at me about how it's invalid because I have White privilege, but I have watched and have been in college (studying social sciences/humanities) for, well, way too long. I feel pretty secure in what I have learned that I can openly discuss this sensitive topic.
Martin, J. M., Nakayama, T. K., & Flores, L. A. (2002). Readings in intercultural communications: Experiences and context (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
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