I’m sure many people found the 2008 election to be the election that marked the beginning of the end (or slow decline) of racism. The racial barriers were being sewn together into one continuous, elegant fabric. The mere fact that an African American man could achieve presidency spoke volumes from the lofty peak of the White House to the dark annals of Compton, California. Racism was ending. Martin Luther King’s dream was finally coming true. His legacy would not be in vain.
We deluded ourselves.
Actually, “deluded” isn’t the proper term. We subconsciously threw away the idea that racism existed. We wanted to believe the problem of racism was dying, and what better way to prove such a fact than to use Barack Obama? The thing is, racism never died after the election of Obama. It merely became a dormant volcano, waiting to erupt after a catalyst was willing to set it into motion. And — you guessed it — that catalyst was Donald Trump.
You know how the rest of this story goes. “Tapping into the fears of people” and “Using racism as a backdrop to garner support” and so forth--you’ve heard these phrases from CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, and more. This election has proven that racism never died. The level of racism in America is no better than it was in 2008. No, perhaps it is even worse now because the election of Donald Trump causes people to believe racism has become socially acceptable.
So what’s next? To those who don’t wish to cause more harm than there is already out there, what can we do?
To begin, I would like to acknowledge an issue that affects us all on a global scale: colorblindness. It’s a term taken from Michelle Alexander’s "The New Jim Crow" and describes a condition in which we refuse to look at race as a factor and instead focus on the individual. Why is being colorblind so bad? Because existing in a state of colorblindness is no better than unconsciously denying the existence of underlying racism in modern society. It is racial difference, NOT racial hostility, that hides the racially biased structure of our justice system.
It is easy to discredit the existence of racism in our current society, but to do so would pull wool over one’s eyes. To do so would be to live up to the very definition of colorblindness. There are many excuses as to why some people believe that racism is nonexistent. A popular argument is that the election of Barack Obama marked a huge achievement in breaking down our racial barriers. Although it may be true that this is a milestone in American history, racism still perpetuates the foundation of society. This is crucial to understand—there is no inconsistency whatsoever between the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land and the existence of a racial caste system in the era of colorblindness. Colorblindness is dependent on black exceptionalism. Without black men succeeding, everyone would readily believe in the existence of racism. Racism wears the mask named “black exceptionalism,” ready to deceive those who either deny or are ignorant to its true colors: black pain and oppression in the face of the current legal system.
By ridding ourselves of colorblindness, we can acknowledge racial differences. I am Asian, and you are African-American. You are Caucasian, and she is Hispanic. We are all clearly different in both appearance and culture, and that is OK. Love each other. Embrace each other. Stand in solidarity and fight for what is right. Now more than ever, it is important that we take a stance for ourselves, and for our future.
