“This is
the dull semantics of racism. The white conservative twists the
discursive field so that he is the sane arbiter of what is or isn’t
racist; everyone else is frivolous and excessive, 'recklessly'
invoking the most sacrilegious offense. This logic rests on the
illusion that racism is mythically rare, that 'racist' is a dangerous
slur rather than a common condition.”
-- Doreen
St. Felix, Staff Writer for The New Yorker,
“Trump, the Squad, and the 'Standard
Definition' of Racism”
The “dull semantics of
racism” – this is the lowest-common-denominator of racism. Doreen
St. Felix says President Trump deals in promoting this language. From
his “both sides” comment about a white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville to his calls for four congresswomen of color –
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida
Tlaib – to “go back” to the “places from which they came,”
Trump consistently spews such language for the edification of his
white nationalist base.
The bigoted semantics
resound as Trump uses his language to call his faithful to action
against those he deems unfit. Gone are the sickening ethnic slurs of
the past. Taking their place are slick inferences and pointed
accusations involving ethnicity. And, of course, denial and
deflection abound as the GOP still supports Trump's hate speech.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, himself, said, “The president’s
not a racist” and then said “everyone ought to tone down the
rhetoric.” Confusing? No, just cover up and lies.
Behavioral scientist
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva calls this “new” prejudice “color blind
racism,” the central racial ideology of the post-civil rights era.
It is characterized by a slippery, often apparently nonracial
ambivalence. The five stylistic components of the ideology are the
following:
- Whites' avoidance of direct racial language,
- The central rhetorical strategies or 'semantic moves' used by whites to safely express their racial views,
- The role of projection,
- The role of diminutives, and
- How incursions into forbidden issues produce almost total incoherence among many whites.
(Eduardo
Bonilla-Silva. “The Linguistics of Color Blind Racism: How to Talk
Nasty about Blacks without Sounding 'Racist.” Sage Journals.
January 1, 2002.)
Let's look at some typical
expression that exists in color blind racism that disallows the open
expression of direct racial views and positions but conceals ways of
voicing them. Here are some common verbal strategies used by whites:
1. “I am not
prejudiced, but” and “Some of my best friends are”
This language makes it
easier to state all sorts of anti-minority positions including
softening opposition to affirmative action and affirming blacks,
especially those who depend on welfare, have a worse overall status
than whites. Or they state their beliefs that blacks are naturally
“more aggressive” or “unwilling to work hard.”
Example:
“Yeah, I would say. I don’t know if that’s racist or what, but
I don’t know. I don’t really talk about that much with people,
you know. So, I really haven’t developed such a strong, a really
strong opinion about it, but I guess I do oppose it now.”
2. “I am not black,
so I don’t know”
After this phrase is
inserted, people usually proceed with statements betraying a strong
stance on the matter in question.
An example: “I’m
sure it’s less than it used to be, at least that’s what
everybody keeps saying so: : : But, uh, I think it’s less. But uh,
I can’t say. But I can’t speak for like a black person who says
they’re being harassed or being uh, prejudice or uh, discriminated
against.”
3. “Yes and no, but
”
A common way of stating
racial views without opening yourself to the charge of racism is
apparently taking all sides on an issue.
Example: “I don’t
think you should discriminate against one group to give another a
better chance. And I don’t believe that’s fair at all. I also
think that to move forward you have to let go of the past and let go
of what happened. Um, you know, and it should really start equaling
out um, ‘cause I feel that some of, some of it will go too far and
it will swing the other way.”
4. “Anything but
race”
Another rhetorical move
typical of color blind racism is the “Anything but race”
strategy. This strategy involves interjecting comments such as “Is
not a prejudiced thing” to dismiss the fact that race affects an
aspect of the respondent’s life. Hence, this tool allows whites to
smooth out racial fractures in their otherwise color blind story.
Examples: “I did not
have minority friends while growing up, but race never came into
play and most of my friends were good kids.” Or “blacks read
“too much” into racism when they do not get jobs.” Or ideas on
racial segregation like “It really doesn’t matter to me if
there’s blacks or whites there cause it's not really the color or
the people that’s going to make me like an area.”
Projection – “They
are the Racist Ones ”
Projection is part of our
normal equipment to defend ourselves. However, it is more than a
defense mechanism, it can also be an essential tool in the creation
of a corporate identity – an “Us versus Them” mentality.
Paranoid projection helps whites escape from guilt and responsibility
and affix blame elsewhere.
Whites project racial
motivations onto blacks as a way of avoiding responsibility and
feeling good about themselves. Their projections appears on a variety
of issues such as affirmative action, school and residential
segregation, interracial friendship and marriage, and blacks’ work
ethic, but most often on the hot issue of so-called “black self
segregation.”
Examples of projection:
“I think they segregate themselves. Or, I mean, I don’t know how
everybody else is, but I would have no problem with talking with or
being friends with a black person or any other type of minority. I
think they’ve just got into their heads that they are different
and, as a result, they’re pulling themselves away.” Or “I have
approached a couple of black people and they’ll just have their
ghetto attitude that um, the white people own everything so then you
have to prove yourself yada, yada, yada.”
Diminutives – “It
Makes Me a Little Angry ”
Diminutive – referring
to a person, object, idea that is very small (unimportant). Because
maintaining a non-racial, color blind stance is key, whites use
diminutives to soften their racial blows. Hence, when they oppose
affirmative action, few say, “I am against affirmative action.”
Instead, they say something such as, “I am just a little bit
against affirmative action.” Similarly, few whites who oppose
interracial marriage flatly state, “I am against interracial
marriage.” Instead, they say something such as, “I am just a bit
concerned about the welfare of the children.”
Example of a diminutive
in the case of a racial slur: “Like, I mean, if you hear a
professor say something, like a racial slur, or something just like a
little bit, ya’ know, a little bit outta hand, ya’ know. I mean :
: : I mean, I would just see it as like : : : ya’ know, he was
just, you took it out of context or something, but, ya’ know, is
just little things like that. It’s just, it’s so touchy.
Everything is so touchy it seems like around here.”
Rhetorical Incoherence
– “I, I, I Don’t Mean, You Know, but ”
Rhetorical incoherence –
grammatical mistakes, lengthy pauses, repetition, etc.-- is part of
all natural speech. Nevertheless, the degree of incoherence increases
noticeably when people discuss sensitive subjects. Because the new
racial climate in America forbids the open expression of
racially-based feelings, views, and positions, when whites discuss
issues that make them feel uncomfortable, they become almost
incomprehensible, particularly when discussing their personal
relationships with blacks
Example: “I mean, I
would not ever preclude, um, a black woman from being my girlfriend
on the basis that she was black. Ya’ know, I mean, ya’ know what
I mean? If you’re looking about it from, ya’ know, the standpoint
of just attraction, I mean, I think that, ya’ know … I think, ya’
know, I think, ya’ know, all women are, I mean, all women have a
sort of different type of beauty, if you will. And I think that, ya’
know, for black women, it’s somewhat different than white women.
Um, but I don’t think it’s, ya know, I mean, it’s, it’s ...
it’s nothing that would ever stop me from like, uh, I mean, I don’t
know, I mean, I don’t if that’s … I mean, that’s just sort of
been my impression.”
Or this example: “I
don’t know. Just … well [high pitched voice] ... I think I would
have been very uncomfortable, okay, I really do. I mean, it would
just be, I [raises voice] wouldn’t want to go out with a, ah … ah
… really dark Middle Eastern man, or Indian, or Oriental. I mean,
I, I just would be uncomfortable. If they’re
closer to me in looks, okay. That’s just always the way I felt.”
Bonilla-Silva's research
suggests the young, educated, middle class are not too far off from
their older, less educated, working class counterparts in their
crudeness and lack of rhetorical sophistication. This may well mean
that as whites enter the labor market, they feel entitled to vent
their resentment in a relative straightforward manner. The dull
semantics of racism is at work.
This entitlement is what
happens if those with power and influence view the degradation of
African Americans as a positive political move. We must all be
conscious of the dangerous effects of negative stereotypes,
especially when they have the potential to misinform millions. When
public officials spew racist rhetoric and degrade African Americans
or others for their own political gain, they damage the country by
emboldening white nationalists. Racism – regardless of how it is
measured – appears to have been an important motive in voting for
Trump. This is frightening in itself.
Footnote from the
author of the studies …
“The data for the
analysis comes from interviews gathered as part of two projects: the
1997 Survey of College Students’ Social Attitudes and the 1998
Detroit Area Study (DAS henceforth). The former study was conducted
among 600 students (451 whites) taking social science courses in
three Universities (Southern University or SU, Midwestern University
or MU, and Western University or WU). The latter was conducted among
400 black and white respondents (323 whites and 67 blacks) in the
Detroit metropolitan area. The interviews for the former were
gathered from a random sample of the 90 percent (406) of the white
students who included information on how to contact them while the
latter were selected randomly among the 400 participants. Altogether
there are 41 interviews with college students (10 percent sub-sample)
and 83 with Detroit area residents (21 percent sub-sample).
“Since a full
discursive analysis of the stylistic components of color blindness is
beyond the scope of this article, I focus instead on showcasing Ž ve
things. First, I document how whites avoid direct racial language
while expressing their racial views. Second, I analyze the central
rhetorical strategies or “semantic moves” 3 used by whites.
Third, I examine the role of projection. Fourth, I show the role of
diminutives in color blind talk. Lastly, I examine how incursions
into forbidden issues produce almost total incoherence among many
whites.”
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