Last week President Obama lamented that “racism is deeply rooted in American society.” While it is obvious that there are racists in America – white racists; black racists; and probably every other kind of racists you can imagine – and there have been times and places when the President’s contention may have been true - we strongly disagree that it is true today. The President has chosen to identify American society through a handful of incidents which may not be “racist” at all – but are law enforcement issues that have many more facets than merely a “racial incident.”
For racism to be “deeply rooted” it has to be reflected in our laws. We can’t think of any law on the local, state or federal level that reflects racism in the sense that the President means. Discrimination against persons due to their race is explicitly illegal. Countries or societies where racism is deeply rooted institutionalize that racism through the force of law. It has happened under Nazism, Communism, Fascism, in revolutionary states, in theocracies – but it does not happen in America today.
It is troubling that our President, our Attorney General, many Congressmen, the Mayors of New York and several other cities choose to see America through the prism of race, and to assert that every argument over policy is actually a veiled racist attack, or that every incident that is or may be racist is done with the approval of society as a whole. The only way to have a color-blind society is to have a color-blind society – that is, to treat people as individuals, and not as representatives of groups; and to consider the possibility that people can disagree with a politician because of his policies instead of the color of his skin.
It is easy to go back and find a time when there were racist laws or when slavery was in force, but those days ended long ago. To pretend they have not – or worse, to believe they have not - does a disservice to everyone and to our society. The importation of slaves ended in 1808; slavery itself finally ended in America in 1865. We have taken many positive steps since then, from integrating baseball in 1947, to integrating schools and business establishments in the 1950s and ‘60s. If we are indeed to overcome the tragedy of slavery and of racism, we must not reflexively accuse American society of racism whenever the opportunity presents itself. It is not wrong to characterize individual acts as racist, but it is wrong to blame society for the offenses of individuals. We remember when America was characterized as a “sick society” forty years ago for the crimes of a few individuals. Those who blame America for every offense committed by an individual American are more interested in tearing America down than in making America a better place.
When racism is invoked as a source of all ills or as a cause for all problems, even in cases where it actually is not to blame – the instances in which racism truly is to blame are made less relevant and criticism has less impact. It is not productive for the President to expect our countrymen to wallow in guilt over conditions that occurred four or five generations before they were born, or to be responsible for crimes that they do not commit.
As our chief national spokesman, instead of running down our society, the President could build much more racial tolerance by highlighting the millions of examples of positive race relations in America, which define us far more than a few extreme examples. For every racist remark about an athlete or a celebrity, there are millions of interracial cheers and standing ovations; And for each slur or instance of bigotry, there are millions of good deeds, acts of kindness, friendships, and, wehope the President has not forgotten - even votes.