White guilt has become the catalyst fore self-annihilation. As we all know, it is true that a great many white people in the United States will do just about anything to avoid being called racist. It is equally true that a great many black people have turned abusing this label into a kind of performance art. White politicians have learnt that there is no better way to appeal to black voters than to see racism at every term. The most flagrant example of this in recent months is Hilary Clinton’s claim, before a predominantly black audience, that Republican leaders have run the House like a plantation.
To my mind, it is most offensive that she took blacks to be so guillible. And it is a pity that the black audience to which she spoke was so guillble. Accordingly, I guess that what I ought say, then, is that it is a pity that Hilary Clinton exploited the gullibility of the black audience to which she spoke. Once could ask, “What kind of moral example did she set in saying what she did?” The answer is an abysmal one. How does one play the game here. Well, let us model the behavior of Hilary ! ! ! Then we wonder why young blacks do not have the respect that they should have for whites, no matter what whites do. Of course, Madame Hilary cannot imagine that she might shoulder some responsibility here.
Every now then, I entertain the thought that I would not have made it as a white professor. I think this for no other reason than that although I have the exact same expectations of my black and yellow and red and white students, it would be nothing nowadays for a non-white student to insist that I am being racist when I apply to her or him the exact same standards that I apply to white students. If I were white I would have to walk on egg shells, as they say.
The issue is not whether there has been racism in America. Only a fool would deny that. And fortunately, fools in this regard are few and far between. Rather, the issue is whether any and every demand for excellence and the relentless application of that demand would be perceived as racist when applied to a black. I should hope not.
But here is the game that quickly gets played. Although the white professor is demanding of a black exactly what she is demanding of a white, there seems to be this tendency on the part of blacks to suppose otherwise. And that supposition is the stepping stone to the charge that the white professor has implicit racist attitudes.
Here is a simple illustration of the point. I do not allow any student to sleep during my lecture. I do not announce this as a policy, however. But guess what I should not have to. Rather, I simply call upon the person who is sleeping during my lecture. But suppose that I am a white professor and the first person who does this is a black student. Well, I would certainly ask myself whether or not my calling upon the black student now sleeping in my class will appear to be racist either to the black student sleeping or other black students in the class.
I can easily enough imagine a white professor thinking to himself that doing so might appear to be racist and that it is simply less of a headache to let the black student continue sleeping. But in choosing so to behave, the professor has unwittingly set a moral climate in the classroom. White students see that black students can get away with improper behavior with which they cannot get away; and black students see that they can manipulate the professor.
To be sure, none of this is said explicitly. But lots and lots of important things in life are not said explicitly. Flirting is a case in point. Part of its richness and fun, in fact, is tied to its non-verbal behavior. The remark “Hello, I would like to flirt with you” is a kill-joy if ever there was one.
So, a white teacher never has to say that I am treating white and black students differently in order for everyone student in the class to be absolutely convinced—and rightly so—that the professor is doing precisely that.
But who suffers the most from this? Well, it turns out to be black students. For you see, if it is a generally known but unspoken truth, that with a white professor we have this differential in the classroom, then precisely what we have is a built-in negative bias with respect to black students, which is precisely what is said to be objectionable.
White guilt perpetuates racist stereotypes. And the exploitation of white guilt perpetuates racist stereotypes. This, I suggest, is one reason that in terms of racial interaction, the progress that we are making today pales in comparison to the progress that we made several decades ago.
If you think that I am joking, consider this. Several years ago, I made the following remark to my political theory class: It is no accident that black-white social relations on college campuses are so limited. For blacks have the upper-hand when it comes to making the charge of racism. In class, ne’er a white expressed agreement. Immediately after class, a great many whites informed me that I had hit the nail on the head.
A black student can accuse a white student of being racist at any time with regard to anything; and there is virtually nothing a white student can do to diffuse it. Don’t like rap or gospel, white boy? Well, we know what that means: You are a racist. Social interaction at its best has to be freely engaged in; and that is far from being the case if whites are completely in a no-win situation with respect to the charge of racism. For this means that blacks can never be mistaken about the charge. And that is implausible from the outset.
Genuine social interaction requires trust. In particular, it requires the trust that neither party will abuse whatever powers that he or she has vis à vis the other. Race relations are not the exception to this principle.
I have been told recently that I am failing to be the black professor that I should be simply because I fail to lambaste my white students for their racism. Simply put, the argument goes like this:
P1: No white is free of racism.
___________
C: Thus, I have a duty to remind my white students of this moral and social reality, and so to remind them of their racism
Well, I do not believe that any black truly embraces this argument. Or more correctly: I do not believe that any black is justified in embracing this argument.
The explanation is very simple. While we understand that people have shortcomings, there very few who think that we should make of point of reminding people of their shortcomings at every turn. Blacks are not the exception here. Quite the contrary, most of us think that while we may very well have a duty to call people to moral and social excellence we need not do this by relentlessly reminding them of their shortcomings. Rather, we might very well be exceedingly effective in this regard by simply inspiring people to be morally and socially excellent.
And here, too, race relations are not the exception. To maintain otherwise constitutes an abuse of white guilt which, in turn, is inimical to the hopes of blacks and the well-being of this nation. To maintain otherwise is to win the battle but to loose the war. Hence the title of this blog-entry.
