Yes, racism IS a white problem
Published May 11, 2015
by Linda Ketner, president of KSI Leadership and Management, published in Salisbury Post, May 10, 2015.
Editor’s note: Linda Ketner delivered this address at the Requiem on Racism held April 26 in Charleston, SC. The YWCA Greater Charleston sponsored the event to promote racial justice and raise awareness about the negative impact of institutional and structural racism.
Now white people in this room are not personally to blame for the unprovoked murders of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, Denzel Curnell, Fred Grey and hundreds of other African Americans.
And not personally at fault that African Americans receive more jail time for the same offenses as whites; or that a white man who has been to jail is more likely to get a job than a black man who hasn’t.
And as white people we are not each personally at fault that although the federal government sees fit to keep statistics on everything from the numbers of hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, to shark attacks — they do NOT keep records on police shootings. Rather they allow law enforcement agencies to self-report … and they don’t seem to mind when only 4 percent bother to self report at all … and then report only what they please.
BUT … that we’re not personally at fault for any of that … not personally culpable … does not mean that we are not responsible. We are. Responsibility isn’t the same as culpability.
And we either take responsibility for the solution to racism … or we become part of the continuation of a 400-year-old problem, and disgrace, in our country.
We all have to acknowledge the reality … that if all of us white people who are troubled by racism … were to take some action to change the system, things would change more quickly.
Racism IS a WHITE problem.
Transforming the institutions that perpetuate racism and white privilege ABSOLUTELY requires the participation of white people. If we continue to believe only victims of racism can talk about it, we aren’t taking responsibility for our role in it.
Know too, that doing nothing is not neutral … doing nothing ALLOWS perpetuation of the problem. If we do nothing, we are colluding with racism.
So, where do we start?
- First, by speaking up … yes, each and every time we hear or see racism! But! We can’t stop there. We also need to start conversations about racism: in schools, at work, at church, book clubs, business lunches, neighborhood association meetings, and yes — even on dates!
And definitely on social media. The next time some nincompoop broadcasts his support on Facebook for Michael Slager or Darren Wilson, treat it as a teachable moment and speak up, start a conversation!
- Next, we need to educate ourselves and our children to the history and sociology of institutional and structural racism.
Some say we need to just let go of the past … let go of the history. But the roots of current injustice are in the soil of that 400-year-old history of racism in this country. We need to understand the soil to understand the fruit of that soil.
In terms of educating ourselves on the sociology of racism, we need to start with understanding that racism is not just prejudice but prejudice plus power. In the U.S., whites have the vast majority of power … in schools, corporations, courts, government, media and more. Whites may be biased against POC (people of color) and POC may be biased against whites … but the KEY difference is … whites have institutional power to control resources and the rights of POC which impact their possibilities. POC don’t have similar power.
Or, as Chris Rock said, “I love being famous. It’s almost like being white.”
- Other things we white people can do:
• We can join the NAACP, or Black Lives Matter, Charleston Area Justice Ministry, the Urban League, donate to an African American candidate for office, give to the International African American Museum. We can demonstrate.
• We can, and need to, write letters to the editor and lobby the statehouse to get legislation passed on body cameras and citizen review boards, We need to insist on excellence and equity in education; and raise Cain until the federal government begins mandatory reporting of all police shootings.
These are just a few ways but there are many more.
But above all, we need to ACT. White guilt is worthless but white action is not.
African Americans should not shoulder the burden of eliminating a system which underestimates, thwarts, sometimes unfairly criminalizes and yes, even too often takes, black lives.
I leave you with a message from my beloved grandmother. When I was young, very young, and would see injustice, I would ask her what I should do about it. She’d remind me first that God didn’t work through elves at night like Santa … and that he counted on us to right the wrongs we saw. Then she’d say, “God gave you a good brain, Linda Ketner. You just figure out what needs doing — and get at it!”
Black Lives Matter … let’s get at it!
Salisbury native Linda Ketner is the president of KSI Leadership and Management Development, a former congressional candidate and has held many positions of civic leadership. She is the daughter of Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner.
May 11, 2015 at 7:43 am
Frank Burns says:
The criminals are responsible for their crimes, nobody else.
May 11, 2015 at 9:23 am
Richard L Bunce says:
First there are no races in our species. Race is a social construct created by social scientists over the last several decades once the science was clear that there are not races in our species. There is racism and one critical requirement is having the false belief that there are races and that a race is better/worse than another race. Race has been an issue in our species since the first homo_sapien was born that had light skin, hair, eyes. Imagine how the tribe reacted when the first red haired green eyed baby was born.
Government can improve the situation over time by dropping the social construct race questions/considerations from it's actions. The science is clear (not settled) and we should deal with the core issues facing US society with regard to cultural and economic relationships.
May 11, 2015 at 10:16 am
Norm Kelly says:
Spoken by a white liberal trying to appease blacks?
No, racism is NOT a white-only problem. Racism cuts both ways. The only group NOT allowed to talk about racism is WHITES! EVERY time some white person speaks about racism, we are ROASTED by liberal black 'leaders' and many liberal white 'leaders'. We are NOT ALLOWED to speak of racism. And God Forbid we should ever mention black expectations of what we are supposed to do for blacks in order to not be considered racists. We are not even allowed to disagree with the current unqualified community organizer racist socialist occupying the White House. We disagree with his socialist agenda. We disagree with his usurping power from the other 2 branches of government that are specifically restricted from the office of President. What is the response? We are referred to as racists. And by the occupier himself we are referred to as 'stupid white people'. We are told by color-blind liberals, both black & white, that we don't disagree with him on ideological grounds, but we hate him because he's (mostly) black. We are not allowed to disagree with any black person for ANY reason without being labeled racists. We are NOT ALLOWED to notice that more blacks kill blacks than white's do without being labeled racists AND part of the problem. We are not allowed to notice that blacks purposely seem to try to fail in school, fail to be educated/to learn, and then whine loudly that they didn't have opportunity. When black kids are specifically targeted in schools for extra help, extra opportunity, and still fail miserably, we are not supposed to notice that this group is allowed to be segregated, chosen for special treatment, and at great cost, with little to no success. And we are called racist if we wonder why such failure is allowed and what more we should do. Then we are told by liberals of every stripe that it's conservative whites who fail to spend enough money on education. And that it's our white privilege clouding our ability to see what's right in front of our faces. Except it's not white privilege and we are NOT racists. We are honest. We don't accept ebonics. We don't accept extra help along with continued failure. We do not allow targeting with special privilege and then being told that we aren't doing enough. We are not allowed to notice that it's kindly, loving, color-blind libs that ALWAYS, CONSISTENTLY segregate people based first and foremost on skin color, and then point it out to them. If we point out that libs are segregating people based on skin color, WE are referred to as racists. The recent re-districting fiasco in NC is a perfect example. Libs FORCE blacks to be in black-majority districts so that it's virtually guaranteed that a black will be elected in the district. But when Republicans draw districts, the response is that there are TOO MANY blacks in the district. Only kindly white libs are allowed to determine how many blacks are enough and how many are too few and how many are too many. Because color-blind white libs are the ones who are most color-blind. Except if you look at how kindly white libs determine what is the right balance. Everything with kindly white libs comes down to skin color and making sure the statistics work out the way kindly white libs want it to work out. Not for the benefit of blacks but for the benefit of the kindly white liberals!
I'm quite tired of hearing about white privilege. I'm tired of being told I'm a racist because I disagree with socialism. I'm tired of being told some white person didn't get a job in order to satisfy some arbitrary federal regulation about skin color being the major determining factor in hiring. What part of this racist attitude is 'white privilege'?
