Everything is Racist ...
... And I Mean Everything
So anyway, today I clicked on the WCRB - https://www.classicalwcrb.org/ - website as I do every morning to provide background music for work and saw the picture above.
Interesting, I thought…but wait, that looks like a noose above her head. Huh – it must be about being taken off to dreamland – the pic is entitled “Dreaming” anyway.
I then wondered if sleep is racist (the conditioning may even be working on me, though I thought it in satirical way) and how it might be a funny idea for a parody article.
I had a chuckle, thought a second, and typed “sleep is racist” into Google.
Then I hit enter.
and
https://www.ajmc.com/view/race-is-not-a-risk-factor-for-disrupted-sleep-but-racism-is-
popped right up.
From the second article:
Benjamin Reiss, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of English at Emory University, outlined the history of White European people placing their comfort and privacy over that of Black Americans, showing the long-standing impact that 400 years of slavery has had on sleep quality.
During America’s slavery era, enslaved Black people were forced to work difficult, labor-intensive jobs for long periods of the day and were forced to sleep in small, cramped sleeping quarters that made it difficult to sleep and work effectively.
“The depressing, exhausting, and soul-killing aspects of enslavement, disenfranchisement, and poverty could simply be interpreted as an aversion to work, an inability to control the body’s urges, and the need for imposed discipline,” Reiss explained.
Sleep, it seems, is also racist because minority populations in louder neighborhoods.
Taken aback – though I know I really really shouldn’t have been – I then girded myself for the following journey of discovery, searching for what other exceedingly common things and activities are racist as well.
Every search term I entered came back positive. Really. I had to eventually stop but, before I did, I came across the following.
NOTE – Do not turn this story into a “that can’t possibly be racist” drinking game – you will die. Also, the italicized text is taken from the items linked; the regular is me.
Walking –
The results suggest that Asians experienced a significantly higher level of discrimination than other racial groups and were less likely to increase walking than White people. We also found that neighborhood cohesion helped alleviate perceived discrimination and promote walking. This study offers new insights into the role of racism in travel behavior.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920922001638
Jogging –
In this timely commentary, the unique personal perspectives and internal dialogue of Black exercisers while navigating predominantly White neighborhoods, particularly those of higher socioeconomic status are discussed. This piece also includes discussion of how racial profiling incites hypervigilance and often fear in Black Americans attempting to exercise outdoors in White spaces.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521000681
Dog walking –
Every Dog Walk Is an Opportunity for Casual Racism -
There’s nothing quite like the mental calculus around a chance meeting with strangers
https://level.medium.com/dog-walking-and-the-mental-calculus-of-racism-62ef195c024c
Dogs –
This article traces the colonial demarcation of ‘native dogs’ – juxtaposed to white settlers’ ‘pet’ dogs – to understand how racial categories were imposed on domesticated animals, and how these racialized animals were then colonized through rabies legislation.
Although the formal racialization of dogs ended with the dawn of political decolonization in the early 1960s, dogs continued to be co-opted for postcolonial racial discourse. Dogs were in a prominent position in postcolonial society due to their prevalence in the security arrangements of white homes as well as in the security forces of white supremacist Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa.
The intensity of the relationship between white minorities, their canine pets and the surrounding African population points toward the uncomfortable conclusion that in the heightened racial environments of decolonizing settler Africa, dogs could be made to be racist.
https://academic.oup.com/hwj/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/hwj/dbaa003/5734672
Air –
This Is How Racist Your Air Is -
If you’re white, you’re probably breathing cleaner air.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/04/air-pollution-racial-disparities/
Water –
In a recent interview, Gisele Fetterman, activist wife of Democratic Pennsylvania Senator-elect John Fetterman, turned heads by stating that “historically, swimming in America is very racist”.
And all this is because access to pools, uncontaminated reservoirs and other swimming venues – just like water fountains and public taps – has long been restricted by race in this country. Racism is, quite literally, in the water in America.
Black communities did not always have a negative relationship with water in general and swimming in particular.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/1/in-america-racism-is-in-the-water
Before moving on, I think it bears noting that thinking black people can’t swim is actually, honestly, really racist.
Food –
The first piece is an excerpt from the book “ How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America.”
From the second article:
A national, Rutgers-led study examining the interplay between multiple forms of racism, emotional eating and physical and mental health in African Americans shows that some people who are Black engage in emotional eating as a response to discrimination and bigotry.
The researchers who conducted the study said the association between emotional eating – which can contribute to obesity and serious diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, if sustained – and racism may be strong enough for racism to be considered a public health concern.
https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/racism-healthy-food/
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/systemic-racism-associated-emotional-eating-african-americans
Eating healthy is also racist, at least according to a queer, Black, Muslim TikTok influencer and a woman who works for one of the world’s largest snack companies:
Yams, specifically –
What makes the American yam truly American? Its history of reinvention and racial theft.
https://thecounter.org/the-american-yams-complicated-and-painful-racial-legacy/
Listening –
There’s a new way to amplify and learn from often-unheard voices around issues of race and injustice: Radical Listening. “You’re not trying to filter what [people] are saying,” explains Ralina Joseph, professor of communication and director of the UW Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity. “You’re not trying to fix them. You’re not trying to solve anything for them.”
This year, Joseph and a small group of graduate students are leading a community-based project in Seattle’s Central District exploring power, privilege and difference in society. The project, funded by a Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies fellowship, evolved out of an “Interrupting Privilege” seminar that Joseph created in partnership with the UW Alumni Association to bring together students and community members for intergenerational conversations about race, racism and their intersections.
https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/radical-listening/
Smoking, specifically smoking menthols –
Big Tobacco has a long history of targeting the Black community with predatory marketing and its racist tactics continue today.
Clothing, in general –
Hardworking or lazy; trustworthy or dangerous: People often make assumptions about someone’s character and personality based solely on how they’re dressed.
A recent study from Oregon State University finds that while more formal clothing may deflect certain racially biased assumptions, many people still hold negative stereotypes about Black men based on what they’re wearing.
Underpants, specifically –
When I started my career, one of my employers had a dress code that required me to wear nude pantyhose to work. Try as I may, it was impossible to find pantyhose that fit my skin tone, so I ended up wearing Caucasian skin-toned tights to work for years.
I remember feeling so self-conscious about it. Here I was in a beautiful dress suit with fair tights on my legs. There are no two ways to say it, it just looked odd. And so I started wearing pants instead. So, yes, yet another way in which racism has shaped my life.
https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-uncanny-racism-of-the-underwear-industry-35f82a510a06
Socks –
Actually, in this case it looks like the woman whose boyfriend was kicked out of the pool for wearing socks actually has a point:
https://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/video/17678999/
Anti-racism –
This one – a discussion on whether “implicit bias” is racist - is a bit baffling.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/is-implicit-bias-racist
Stairs –
It seems the stairs themselves may not be racist, but having to come together at the stairs for Black kids in a high school may be racist and discusses the need for “safe spaces” in a white environment.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/is-implicit-bias-racist
Chairs –
Again, this one may have a point…
https://www.thelocal.no/20140123/norwegian-artists-racist-chair-offends-everybody
Trees –
From the first piece:
Trees are particularly lacking in areas where minorities live, while shade is more prominent in more affluent, white neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with a majority of people of color have 33% less tree coverage than communities that are majority white, and neighborhoods with residents with 90% or more living in poverty have 65% less tree coverage than communities with 10% or less of the population in poverty.
A longtime symbol of segregation that has stood alongside a golf course since the 1960s will soon meet its end in one California town.
Decades ago, a large grove of tamarisk trees was planted on the border between Tahquitz Creek Golf Course and a historically black neighborhood, along with a chain link fence. But at an informal city meeting this week, officials promised residents that the trees and the fence would be removed.
(You didn’t think there would be a link to “Golf” magazine in this story, did you? You’re such a racist.)
Lawns –
Botti says lawns are part of the “colonizing of America,” which transformed the landscape from “pristine wilderness” to “identical rows of manicured nature.”
“These lawns come on the backs of slaves,” he continues, zooming in on a painting of George Washington in a field to highlight men cutting the grass with scythes. “It’s grueling, endless work.”
At this point I would like to point out that lawns are not racist – they are classist. The lawn as we know it was birthed about 800 years or so ago and was a way to let the world know that you were so rich you could waste lots and lots of land that could have provided food and/income. Lawns tend to be a bit smaller than 30 acres today but they still represent extra land you don’t need to survive, not how and why you hate Black people.
https://pennstate.forums.rivals.com/threads/nyt-lawns-are-a-symbol-of-white-supremacy.243377/
Playground equipment –
There seems to be a rather intense discussion if “monkey bars” and/or “jungle gyms” are racist terms because when people hear the words “jungle” and “monkey” they automatically think of black people, like the oh so absolutely not racist progressives who took umbrage at the term “monkeypox.”
As I’ve pointed out before, if when you hear the word “monkey” you instantly think “Black” then you are the racist. If you hear about George Soros being rich and immediately attack anyone who criticizes him as an anti-semite makes you the anti-semite because to you the words “rich” and “jewish” mean the same thing.
https://vpvantagepoint.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/jungle-gym-called-racist-term-on-cnn/
Astronomy and Physics –
You are almost certainly aware that the scientific method is not only racist but colonialist, xenophobic, transphobic, western, white, and evil. But as the digging gets deeper, specifically astronomy and physics are amongst the worst offenders.
Of course, that means black holes are racist.
https://www.city-journal.org/cornell-black-hole-class-racializes-astronomy
https://www.axios.com/2020/06/16/astronomers-physicists-systemic-racism-science
Lumber –
If have wood you may be contributing to systemic racism unless you do what this forestry consulting firm tells you to:
https://americangreenconsulting.com/racism-and-inequality/
Technology –
“…train a self-driving car to recognize human figures by showing it millions of pictures of white people, and it might struggle to identify pedestrians of other races.”
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2019/mar/13/driverless-cars-racist
Cars –
The idea of de-policing transportation is an inspiration that could perhaps only have come out of the current confluence of events: a disastrously managed pandemic, growing climate chaos, the largest social movement in US history demanding wholesale changes in policing and respect for Black lives, and the blazing dumpster fire of the Trump administration.
Sidewalks –
For decades we’ve built racial inequities into our roads, subways and sidewalks. Better transportation policies now could play a big role in dismantling structural racism.
Africa –
This seems to put paid to the assertion that only white people can be evil racist overlords:
In the Republic of Congo, where Pygmies make up 2% of the population, many Pygmies live as slaves to Bantu masters. The nation is deeply stratified between these two major ethnic groups. The Pygmy slaves belong from birth to their Bantu masters in a relationship that the Bantus call a time-honored tradition.
Even though the Pygmies are responsible for much of the hunting, fishing and manual labor in jungle villages, Pygmies and Bantus alike say Pygmies are often paid at the master's whim; in cigarettes, used clothing, or even nothing at all. As a result of pressure from UNICEF and human-rights activists, a law that would grant special protections to the Pygmy people is awaiting a vote by the Congo parliament.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Africa#
Paint –
Is white paint racist? Norway’s University of Bergen is exploring that question, asking how the aesthetic of white paint helped the nation contribute to white supremacy and helped “[make] the world whiter.”
https://nypost.com/2023/01/20/norway-funds-research-to-find-out-if-white-paint-is-racist/
Windows, but only the broken ones –
More Proof NYPD’s Beloved “Broken Windows” Policy is a Racist Mess
Parks –
“The Reconciliation in Place Names Act would remove names from public lands that are offensive, racist, and inappropriate, thus helping to ensure that our parks and outdoor spaces are managed in a more equitable and inclusive manner that honors our nation’s diversity," said Paul Spitler, director of wilderness policy for The Wilderness Society, in a joint statement with partner groups.
"The bill—and the spirit of equity it carries for our public lands—is long overdue. We support this important legislation and commend Congresswoman Haaland and Congressman Green for advancing it.”
In the end, it must be remembered that if everything is racist then no specific thing can be racist and that’s the problem with current state of the discussion. If asking someone about a new hair style is the same thing as a Grand Wizard burning a cross on a lawn then the real problems simply get lost in the noise.
NOTE – I’ve left the comments open for everyone so you can play along at home and let The Point community what else is racist…if you dare.
In SoCal we are frequently reminded that freeways are racist! https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-06-24/bulldoze-la-freeways-racism-monument