I Got Something to Say by Matthew Oware

Author:Matthew Oware
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783319904542
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Racial Evasion

Since outwardly racist actions are legally prohibited or socially frowned upon, researchers find that many whites articulate a colorblind ideology in American society. This is the belief that groups are judged based on their actions, and that racism no longer exists. 26 Sociologists Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Charles Gallagher interview whites who attribute minority disadvantages to poor education or lack of motivation, not racism. 27 In fact, many whites cite the election of Barack Obama , the first black President of the United States, as an example of a colorblind and post-racial society. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and David Dietrich write, “a mythology that emerged in post-civil rights America has become accepted dogma among whites with the election of Barack Obama : the idea that race is no longer a central factor determining the life chances of Americans…most whites have deemed the election of our first black president proof positive that we have entered a ‘post-racial ’ era.” 28

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that some whites advocate a colorblind ideology that consists of four frames : abstract liberalism, naturalization , cultural racism , and minimization of racism . 29 “Frames” are ways of thinking that allow people to interpret and present information in specific ways. Abstract liberalism invokes notions of “equal opportunity,” “free choice,” and “individualism” as justifications for racial inequality. Hence, the belief that intervention in “free markets” via affirmative action violates norms of equal opportunity. Naturalization occurs when whites express racist views through “race-neutral” beliefs; for example, the notion that segregated neighborhoods arise from a preference for the same race, as opposed to discriminatory actions and policies of realtors, homeowner’s associations, or local authorities (as discussed in Chapter 2). Cultural racism provides culture-of-poverty explanations for minority disadvantage. So, low rates of educational attainment among minorities occur due to the devaluation of education. According to this logic, minority groups’ apparent lack of effort, immoral or amoral behavior and weak family structure harms them, not some larger prejudiced institution.

This analysis of rap lyrics draws on Bonilla-Silva’s “minimization of racism” as an analytic approach. Minimization of racism is the belief “that suggests discrimination is no longer a central factor affecting minorities’ life chances.” 30 Racism happened in the past, but systemic and institutional forms of prejudice and discrimination targeting people of color no longer exist. I derive the concept of racial evasion from this particular frame. Racial evasion is (a) superficially referencing race, but not deliberately engaging or articulating racial dynamics; and (b) readily avoiding involved discussions surrounding racism occurring at the institutional or individual level that are quite obviously racial through their history, construction, or manifestation.

In racial evasion , persons fail to substantially recognize and attribute any racial meaning to explicitly racialized social structures or racially political projects within American society. 31 As a result, they fall short of fully and deliberately analyzing the extent to which racialized systems of oppression impact minority (and majority) populations. An example is the debate surrounding the flying of the Confederate battle flag on state grounds in the South in 2015 and 2016.

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