Theological Journal – July 17 How else does this definition relate to systemic racism?
Again, we need to clarify
our terms. “Systemic racism” merely refers to the policies and normative
practices that create or perpetuate discrimination or prejudice against people
on the basis of race. Such “systems” are carried out by people. People
establish or defend such policies. It is people who accept racist norms, which
consciously or unconsciously.
Before we get to the starting line
Here’s an analogy that I
found helpful (though I can’t recall where I heard it).
Imagine two black men are
allowed to enter an Olympic race, which also includes white runners. However,
due to various discriminatory practices in the past, the black runners do not
receive the same coaching, training, and nutrition as the white runners, who
have received years of professional coaching and hours of rigorous training.
What will happen when they
finally start their race? On
the surface, the rules of the race equally apply to all runners. They all must
run the same distance and start when the gun fires. However, past inequalities
(i.e., decades and centuries of discrimination) have left the black runners
ill-equipped to contend seriously for the gold medal.
This analogy intends to
highlight the ways that racism is built into the social order.
Changing individuals’ hearts today does not mean that everything is equal for
blacks as for whites.
Two scenarios are will
occur when we recognize the existence of unconscious discrimination
or prejudice against a race. On the one hand, a person might not knowingly do
something that is, in fact, racist simply because they do not realize their
biases. This phenomenon is characteristic of “colorblind racism.”
On the other hand, a
person might oppose a policy that some judge as racist but does so without
any unconscious attempt to discriminate against a certain race. That person
might simply disagree with others about the best way to foster justice in
society.
In any case, when we
include unconscious bias against people based on race, we are better equipped
to undo systems that created racial inequality. Furthermore, this altered
definition accounts for implicit prejudice yet without confusing power as
inherently bad nor collapsing purpose and result.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jacksonwu/2020/07/14/we-need-a-better-definition-of-racism/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Evangelical&utm_content=267
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