Additional thoughts on racism

I didn't get around to saying in my blog post yesterday something that is both important context, and a corollary of the argument I was making.

If I claim Trump supporters are at the least racist because they supported a racist person, then it follows that people who support any other things that are racist must also be labeled that way.

A blatant example is easy to follow: the KKK is a blatantly racist organization, and people who support it are clearly endorsing racism and can fairly be called racist.

Slightly less clear-cut: Voter ID laws that claim to be about preventing voter fraud, but also have the significant and directed effect of lowering minority voter turnout. This is subtler than the KKK, but still racist in its effect, and supporters are endorsing racism.

Even less clear-cut: zoning for neighborhood public schools has created highly segregated schools in many areas - John Oliver had a really good segment about this recently:

Oliver on school segregation

This one implicates a lot of people who are not the first folk who come to mind when I think about racist or racism-prone ideologies. The results, though, are clearly unjust along racial lines and directed at minority populations. So racism is involved here, too.

As the argument for what is racist and who is racist extends, it begins to cover a really, really large percentage of people. And I think that is an important lesson. We are still in many ways a very racist and unjust country and we need to consistently be reminded of it in order to do better. Finding the hidden ways we are racist is as (maybe more?) important than pointing out the obvious ones.

So I'm not only trying to say that Trump voters are racist. I am, too, and I want to move away from that, towards a more just, more equal America. And that means being aware.