5 What is racism?
You have learned about two positions in the metaphysics of race debate – two answers to the question ‘what is race?’. Race and racism are linked ideas, especially for those who think that race itself only exists when racism (in the form of a social hierarchy) exists. But what, exactly, is racism? As with race, people have very different ideas about what racism is and when something is or is not racist.
The philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote of racism that:
We see it everywhere, but rarely does anyone stop to say what it is, or to explain what is wrong with it.
One thing that philosophers do is try to clarify everyday concepts, such as racism. Philosophy can provide the tools of rigorous reasoning and analysis through which we can arrive at a more precise, more accurate, or more thorough understanding of the idea under investigation.
In the case of racism, philosophers have debated what racism, fundamentally or primarily, is. Is it based in features of institutions or social structures? Is it primarily interpersonal (about interactions between individuals)? Is something racist only when individual perpetrators have racist hearts or racist beliefs? Can something be racist if it has harmful or discriminatory effects, regardless of anyone’s intentions?
Why does providing an account of racism matter? One reason is that, in general, there is a shared sense that racism is something bad, to be gotten rid of or stamped out. Identifying something as racism means identifying something that should be eliminated. Furthermore, one might think that racism, compared with, say, mere prejudice, ignorance, or unkindness, is particularly bad – perhaps it should be a priority to eradicate racism in society. So, working out what racism is and therefore what counts as racism and what doesn’t is crucial to pinpointing what we should direct our efforts towards eliminating. In addition, the sorts of solutions that are most appropriate or appealing might differ depending on what we think racism is. For example, whether we ought to be focusing on changing people’s hearts and minds, whether we should be focusing on reducing harmful effects, or whether we should be focusing on remedying racist institutions or social structures.
Now you will watch a clip from a conversation with Dr Helen Ngo, who is a research fellow at Deakin University in Australia and an expert on the philosophy of racism. In this video Dr Ngo discusses how different definitions of racism impact how racism is identified and addressed.
Activity 7
Watch the following video.
Transcript
AZITA CHELLAPPOO:
Investigating philosophy. Identifying and addressing racism.
Hi, I’m Dr Azita Chellappoo from The Open University, and I’m here with Dr Helen Ngo who is a research fellow at Deakin University.
HELEN NGO:
Hi, Azita. Thanks for inviting me.
AZITA CHELLAPPOO:
So there’s lots of different ways of understanding what racism is. Some people think of it in terms of individual actions or in terms of some policies and laws. For other people, it’s not just actions, but those actions have to be backed by subconscious racist beliefs or racist feelings.
And there’s also these processes of racialisation. Do you think that our definition or understanding of racism affects how we identify and then confront or dismantle racism in the real world?
HELEN NGO:
Yes, it absolutely does because if we understand racism in very narrow terms, then I think we’re only ever going to be able to identify it in a very sort of narrow set of circumstances. And in fact, what you tend to see is that when people try to point to instances of racism that don’t fall within that, then you end up in a kind of - I don’t know, cultural wars here. Oftentimes, that’s what you see.
So I guess to give an example, to go back to the different definitions of racism that we’ve touched on already, if we understand racism primarily as actions or behaviours between individuals that are intended to subjugate another person - and I take that example because I think in the Australian context, that tends to be the dominant way that we understand racism, as these interpersonal interactions, where, say, racial epithets etc might be thrown about.
If we take that as our definition of racism, then it only leads to a very narrow set of circumstances being identified as such. And in fact, what African American philosopher of race Naomi Zack has said is that it also just leads us to a politics of politeness, whereby we think the way to deal with racism is all just to be nice to each other, which does nothing at all to address the underlying racial disparities that we have socioeconomically, over-incarceration of First Nations people here.
AZITA CHELLAPPOO:
Could you give an example of where our understanding of racism affects whether or not we think something in the real world is racist?
HELEN NGO:
Yeah. So one example that I think can bring out this point nicely is that if you walk into a kids’ store or a bookshop, and you look around at the books that are on display, what you most likely will see that the books on display will predominantly feature white protagonists, kids, friends, families, etc.
And I think there was a study some years back actually based in the UK where people did a survey of children’s book titles readily available and found that you were seven times more likely to see an animal as the main protagonist than you were to see a person of colour, which really says something about the disparity. It’s sort of a known problem now in the publishing industry that there is an over-representation of white protagonists and an under-representation of people of colour.
Now, if we take a definition of racism, whereby we think it’s - that, for one, it’s predominantly interpersonal or, two, that we think that it’s - that it needs to be intended sort of through a process of conscious intention as well, we’ll probably struggle to see that as falling within the definition of racism.
We might think that it’s a problem, but it’s not necessarily racist. Or we might not even see that as a problem, actually. But then when you think of the flow-on effects, what does this mean for children when they don’t routinely see themselves in the books, don’t see themselves reflected in books, when they only see predominantly white children as actors who are doing - who are on adventures or involved in struggling with - struggling and learning to overcome certain problems?
What does it do for educators who are engaging with these books and children and how they respond to the children that they are constantly in touch with? And it has these sort of flow-on effects that I think are important to capture within our definition of racism. But I think that we don’t get there.
AZITA CHELLAPPOO:
Thank you for joining us, Helen. That was a really fascinating discussion.
HELEN NGO:
My pleasure, Azita. Nice talking to you.
After watching the video, answer the following questions. You may need to watch the video again, pausing as you go.
1. In the video, Dr Ngo says that in the Australian context the dominant way that racism is understood is primarily as ‘actions or behaviours between individuals that are intended to subjugate another person’. What, according to Dr Ngo, is the problem with defining racism in this way?
Discussion
1. According to Dr Ngo, this definition is too narrow. It can lead to a ‘politics of politeness’, where the way to deal with racism is to ‘be nice to each other’. Following this strategy would not address underlying racial disparities in society.
2. Dr Ngo discusses the example of children’s books predominantly featuring white protagonists. How does this example illustrate the effect of a definition of racism on what is identified as a problem?
Discussion
2. If racism is defined as being predominantly interpersonal or as something that must be consciously intended, then the over-representation of white protagonists in children’s books would not count as racism. However, there are harmful effects for children and educators that arise from the racial disparity in protagonists of children’s books, which Dr Ngo claims are important to capture within our definition of racism.
Providing a philosophical account of racism can give us a principled way to look out into the world and pick out what counts as racism and what does not, and therefore what we should try to get rid of and what we shouldn’t. The racial disparity in protagonists of children’s books provides one illustration of this.