Race, Culture, and Reality
Dave Price
Jill at Feministe and Jeff at Protein Wisdom have an interesting discussion of race and identity politics. Here's my biggest problem with Jill's arguments:
but the fact will remain that those people who are identified/identify themselves as “black” tend to be poorer, less educated, less respected, and holding of less prestigious positions than those who are identified/identify themselves as “white.”But that all falls apart when we look at certain races (or, more correctly, identity groups): while blacks and latinos may fit the above model, Jews, Arabs, and asians do not. The latter three groups all generally enjoy higher incomes and higher status than whites in America, which presumably they would not if America was the giant racist construct intended to keep whites on top that Jill seems to be arguing it is.
The fact is, America is a meritocracy. Culture creates individual character, and some cultures (not races, not identity groups) are better suited to creating individuals that can succeed, and anyone can decide tomorrow to change their character and join a different culture. Black, hispanic, Jew, asian or white, anyone can decide to study and work hard or to live “ghetto” or anything in between. That’s hardly a decision to follow a racial ideal, and in fact we see people of all races making decisions all along that spectrum.
In fact, I would argue identitarians are actually hurting minorities by perpetuating failed cultures in the defensive guise of racial identities (the only way the otherwise indefensible can be defended). Instead of being able to say “Hey, maybe I should work hard, stay out of trouble, and succeed” poor blacks are often told they cannot succeed because of who they are — and they better not even try, because to do so would be unblack of them. The pariah effect is so common Chris Rock and other black comedians have mentioned it often for years now: succeeding by working hard, studying, and staying out of trouble is perceived as “acting white” (and is thus a betrayal of one’s race), when in fact it is, objectively and without regard to race or identity group, simply a better way to live.
In fact, it's probably proof that even while racism is there it's just not that important in most cases anymore. I've directly experienced racism myself (and by the way I'm really tired of chuckleheads who say that's impossible). That shouldn't slow you down any more than a lot of other things. Indians (from India) are hardly white but they tend to do extraordinarily well here.
On the other hand, I'm not entirely sympathetic to the view that "work hard and play by the rules" are the ONLY things young minorities who are struggling in poverty need to hear. They need more than that, including more respect than that.
Believe it or not there are tons of people in the black community who say all the same things you young black people. Practically every black religious figure does. It's a very common message.
But if it's not tied to respect, and also to an appreciation of what makes their circumsdtances different, then all you're doing is berating them.
For example, very few immigrants really come to this country with nothing anymore. Most come with family and are helped by family--that is especially true of most Arabs and most Asians, for example. And many of our most successful Indian immigrants either have college educations before they arrive, or have very good educations and then come here for college. It's a very different mindset than someone who was born in a family and environment that never saw the value of education in the first place, and in communities that are already dysfunctional.
None of which is excuse-making. In fact I despise the conservative impulse to call that excuse-making. No, it's a matter of not berating people, of not disrespecting them, when you try to help them with good advice. The environmental factors DO matter, but you've got to know which you're addressing before you just start haranguing them.
You can choose which you allow to dictate your life.
Well, while the message really is that simple, actually conveying the message is not that simple; there are a lot of issues of status and social signaling that come into play. It's not so much a question of telling them certain things, as of a peer culture that values certain traits over others. For instance, if you ask young male blacks why they join gangs, a lot of times the answer is because the girls they want to be with respect that more than an education.
First, there's the issue of language (which Bill Cosby has touched on from time to time). Second, there are paralinguistic features of communication (all of the aspects of communication other than speech itself). Third, there are a whole host of habits, behaviors, and attitudes that, while commonplace in the communities in which most native-born African Americans live, aren't acceptable outside those communities.
There are also issues of choice of career path. We don't have nearly enough black accountants or computer programmers, for example. There are only so many billets for NBA players or ultra-rich rap performers.
In short to succeed you have to conform to the standards of the majority society. And I think that's the crux of what identity politics is fighting (IMO a battle that is doomed to failure).
It's more than enough.
All that stuff about language and mannerisms and attitudes is true in white communities too. Ever listen to how most white teenagers talk? You can't talk Stoner or Valley Girl any more than Ebonics and expect to get ahead.
Even in the poorest black (or white, or other) communities, there are people working hard and studying and succeeding. It's not luck or chance or some special ability to transcend their surroundings, it's a choice.
There are also issues of choice of career path.
That's exactly my point: accounting and programming are a choice that require study and hard work, something blacks are being told they should not pursue lest they deemed to be acting unblack.
In short to succeed you have to conform to the standards of the majority society. And I think that's the crux of what identity politics is fighting (IMO a battle that is doomed to failure).
Randall >>
Hmm... Is there anything wrong with conforming to the standards of the majority society?
Is that really, necessarily, obviously, beyond-dispute-ly, totally, always a bad thing?
It really depends on what the majority society's standards are, and they are frequently quite reasonable, sometimes not so much.
Some of those standards are:
Study hard
Work hard
Be disciplined
Delay gratification until it can be responsibly gratified
Express yourself skillfully
Self-sufficency (for able-boded adults)
These are requirments for success for most of us, and to say it is unfair to hold everyone to these standards suggests that all standards/behaviors/attitudes SHOULD confer equal success. That is just plain unrealistic.
Some behaviors are less like to be rewarded with success than others. Calling success-promoting behaviors "white" just obscures reality and keeps non-whites from making some necessary adjustments.
Anyway, the argument you were explaining (not defending) is so widely held that it deserves a good challenge now and then.
Just like in the Larry Summers dustup, you cannot legislate biology. You cannot legislate female brains into male brains, you cannot legislate mean black IQ (85) into mean white IQ (103).
Persistant attempts at levelling an unlevellable playing field (hbd, or human biodiversity) result in a culture of dependency and eternal victimhood for both feminists and blacks.
There is a biological basis for ALL behavoir.
So deal.
Well, yes, you will learn that in school. There are all kinds of classes for that sort of thing.
And that's not a "black cultural" issue; I didn't know anything about how to behave in interviews until I was taught it in school, and even then I wasn't very good at it for many years. And you can't tell me all these overachieving asian kids whose parents don't speak a word of English aren't overcoming bigger problems.
Study hard, work hard, stay out of trouble. Simple, if not always easy to do.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.