Member-only story
Do White People Hold Onto Racism Because of Their Fear of Reduction?
Can White people still stand tall without racism?
Racism is a construct that has awarded White people with a multitude of privileges, and those privileges were awarded as a direct result of the belief that their race is "superior." Although, if racism was removed from the equation, would White people stand where they are today and hold the same positioning that they currently have in society that is built on the concept of white superiority?
In 1993, Toni Morrison posed this question in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show. She asked, “What are you without racism? Are you any good?… Do you still like yourself?” Whether White people want to come to terms with the fact that privilege and white supremacy have boosted their social standing today doesn't affect the answer. Either way, White people would not be the same. They wouldn't have the same amount of wealth, and they wouldn't have had access to the resources that have built and harboured their lands. The world would be different, and so would they. But for some White people, that truth is still hard to swallow.
"I refuse to be one… if you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And my feeling is that white people have a very, very serious problem…
