Racism

by Dee Holder

Created on: March 02, 2010

This question is not as simple as it seems.  One can look at it from a historical, global, cultural, societal and individual perspective.  The answer to the question can change depending on which perspective one uses to evaluate the question.   On a historical and global perspective I think the answer would have to be sexism.  Women as a group, regardless of culture or civilization have suffered horrific crimes and have essentially been treated as second class citizens in most countries throughout history and even in present times in some countries.  Even many western countries still have evidence of discrimination against women, even as women have increased their economic and cultural power over the years.

It would be interesting to note that in the US, black men were able to vote before white women and that we have elected a black male president before we allowed a woman to run the white house and not just live there.  As a black woman I had to think for a while before I decided which side to write to.  I thought back on my life and tried to determine which of the two forms of discrimination have caused me the most stress and have had the most impact on my life, career and relationships.

When I thought about it, I had to admit that being black has a greater effect in my day to day interactions than does being female. As a woman, I see myself represented in the media, the arts and in the workplace.   Not only am I represented in the media as a woman, but there are many different images, personalities and versions of women that I can identify with.  Female characters in movies, books and TV series are well fleshed out, interesting and varied.  You find women (of course) well represented as partners for male leading men (why this is relevant will be explained later).

In essence, while I have experienced discrimination and frustrations because I am a woman in a mostly male workplace it is not constant and there are times when being female has actually been an advantage in my social interactions.   This is a very different situation to being black in American society.  As a black person I find it much harder to see myself represented in the media, arts and in the workplace.  In my current job you can count the number of blacks working there on one hand.  Where I live there are no other black tenants, I went to predominantly white universities for all three of my degrees.

When I do see blacks on TV or in the movies the characters are often not well developed and are very rarely well thought out and interesting, unless they were developed by or for black audiences.  It is rare that I see a black woman as a love interest for the white leading men and if they are they tend to die, or are replaced by white love interests as soon as possible.  Most of the images of blacks, especially of black women are very stereotypical and I often find them very difficult to relate to as I don't fit the current stereotypes for black women.

I have never felt that I have been denied service, ill treated, profiled or separated for increased surveillance because I am a woman but I have on numerous occasion felt that I have experienced this due to the color of my skin.  The truth is that neither is acceptable.  I should not be treated as an inferior regardless of if I am black or I am female.  Neither of those two factors has much to do with my scientific ability (I am a scientist), my moral bearings, my spiritual beliefs, my academic ability or my honesty.   Where I have lived, how my parents raised me, what schools I went to and how much money my parents had were much more important in determining who I am as a person, than either my race or my sex.

The way I am treated due to my sex, or race had more to do with how I see the world as a black woman, than the simple fact that I am a black woman.  Had I never experienced racism (and in my childhood growing up in a country with much less racism at the time) I would not consider my identity as a black person important.  Before I moved to the states I saw myself simply as a person, not as a black person.  Had I never experienced sexism (which I had experienced before I came here), I would not see my identity as a woman as that relevant to my career persona (it would still be important in the social interactions).

This is probably the answer to the question I often hear asked "When will "insert race or gender here" stop talking about "insert 'ism here"?  When all the 'isms are gone, people will stop talking about race and gender all the time, yes it really is that simple, but I am going off topic.

Both sexism and racism are corrosive to the soul, mind and body.  Many white males will note that they feel that they have also been victims of racial or sexual discrimination.  To them I would ask them to hold on to that feeling of anger and sense of unfairness and then extend that same feeling of basic unfairness to every aspect of their lives. Imagine that when they go to the restaurant, try to get a cab, try to get a job, a mate or a treatment in a hospital they know that the only reason that you are not getting that table, that cab, that job, man or that medication is because of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation or their religion.  That this happens to them on a daily basis, every year of their lives and has been happening, for decades, centuries, in the case of women from the time men started writing about history.

We should not be trying to figure out which is worse, both should not be experienced, we should be trying to find ways to rid our society of the last vestiges of both ills.  

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