A short book that I did not enjoy very much but forced myself to finish as per the recommendation of a friend. The book really brings to light how powerful institutional white racism is still to this day, and does a great job at discerning between racism, ignorance to racism, activism and ācolor blindnessā. I used to think that I should try to avoid seeing race altogether, but this book tipped me very slightly on the side of affirmative action. That being said, a lot of the examples used throughout the book are dated, since a lot has changed in the past 30 years, which weakened the authorās argument in some cases.
There are two primary audience: those who can relate to the author and those to whom the book was recommended by individuals who could related to the author. I am one of the latter. As a single straight white male, in his 20s, working for a large tech company, who mostly grew up in Canada, and is currently living in the US, with physically conservative and social liberal views, I often feel like Iām not allowed to have views that challenge the status quo whatsoever. This book reiterated that point. Having grown up in a very multicultural environment, and having gone through many āunconscious biasā training sessions at work, I like to think that I treat everyone equally, but I know that Iām biased. As a Russian Jew, I have a preference of dating women who are also Russian Jewish. When I meet someone new, I immediately connect them mores if we are of a similar background, race or heritage. Whenever I interview someone at work, I actively remind myself not to prefer one person over another because of their race. This takes conscious effort, and Iām not sure if itāll ever change. The book made a point that simply being ignorant of race altogether is not ideal because we have not reached equality yet, so it might be a good thing. While I do not plan to become an activist of this movement, this book definitely shaped how I think about race.
A major concept that irritated me throughout this book is the authorās insistence that the only type of racial description that takes place is that which is most visible - individuals who are of a dark skin color. However, while I am white and can therefore āhideā my race, being a Russian Jew has also had itās downside and I feel the need to express that. My parents and grandparents were Jewish citizens o the USSR. Though everyone is technically āwhiteā, their passport read āJewā. Some Universities did not accept Jews at all, others only had a limited number of spots for Jews, and sometime their grades were also affected by this fact. Similar to how slavery was considered part of the norm a couple hundred years ago, this was part of the norm in the USSR 30 years ago. After the Perestroika, my family and I moved to Israel while I was still a toddler. When I was 4, I would always come home and jump straight into the shower. My mom tried to figure out why that was, and we later found out that some of the Israelis were calling me a āStinky Russianā, even though we were all Jewish. Though I attended a Jewish school, I grew up in an Arabic community and was constantly bullied for being Jewish. I was never beat up, but constantly teased, pushed around and made fun of, which is traumatic for a child.. While I realize that this doesnāt compare to the type of racism colored people must endure, I think itās important to raise awareness that there are different types of āwhiteā as well.
Overall, I believe that Iām one of the people Reni would not want to talk to about Race. She is right in saying that Iāll never understand what she and others are constantly going through. I have no pity, but am annoyed that this still takes place. My biggest takeaway is that I should not strive for ācolor blindnessā, but for ācolor qualityā.
=== Random points from that book that I found interesting ===
The discussion about the distinction between institutional racism and racial disadvantage was very interesting
Racism is often confused for prejudice, which is not the same
Black history month is, unfortunately, slowly turning into black culture month in a lot of schools
Color blindness is not necessary good - seeing race is necessary to change the system
The analogy of āwhite privlerageā to making an educational facility being wheelchair accessible was very profound