Am I racist? I cannot really think of a question for people to ask themselves which is more idiotic. It is one of those absurd obsessions in America, which is a culture in my opinion too focused on the self. Too self centered. Instead of thinking about the whole. About society as a whole, it is always narrowed down to yourself. Thus too many Americans engage in pointless self-flagellation about their own perceived racism: "Oh was I being micro-aggressive just now?"
It is an absurd focus because it has so little to do with the actual problems discriminated minorities face. Whether you had some micro-agression in your social interaction with a minority or not is not the key problem. The problem is being denied serious opportunities: Jobs, education etc. Being thrown into prison due to bias of the justice system and the police. That some latte drinking privileged liberal in the suburbs work hard on their pronouns, and micro-aggressions isn't going to make a dent.
Hence I see no value in evaluating how racist I am. I see the value in what policies and solutions you promote. What point is there in congratulating yourself with not being racist if society has not change in any way and have not given the marginalized a better life?
I am not racist on what I see as the key metric: I don't believe most differences between people today in outcomes are caused by genetical differences. I think those differences are created by society and thus can also be undone by society. I believe people of all color can be raised up to much better outcomes than they have today.
That separates me from the people I criticize in the article who believe differences are intrinsic to the biology of people. That people who are black or dark skinned are somehow less capable due to genetics. Thus in their view society can never narrow the gap between blacks and whites.
That is what I talk about specifically as racist in this article.
Of course racism can have a broad definition. Often it includes all sorts of prejudice which may not be rooted in biological beliefs. In this regard I would not claim with any certainty that I am not racist. But I also don't see it as a goal for myself to be free of all prejudice. I think such self-centered obsessions never leads anywhere positive. Ultimately what you do for others is what matters. Not what you think about others.
