What’s Racist?

originally published April 30, 2008

At the conclusion of the recent meeting between members of the black community and the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission at Hill Chapel Baptist Church, Flagpole City Editor Ben Emanuel and I stood dumbfounded. We weren’t quite sure what to make of Mayor Heidi Davison’s temper tantrum in the middle of what had been a civil but honest discussion about the cutting of funds from the East Athens Development Corporation (EADC) and Hancock Community Development Corporation (HCDC).

Commissioners said that $255,000 in federal block grant money earmarked for the nonprofit organizations, located in two of the county’s largest minority communities, had to be shifted because of the lack of success the organizations were having with home-buying counseling programs. The black community said that decision needed to be reconsidered.

Davison said she knew the needs of the black community, knowledge gained by spending “45 minutes” in East Athens, occasionally driving through low-income neighborhoods and frequenting annual community events.

Evelyn Neely, a longtime community activist who is affectionately known as “the Mayor of East Athens,” suggested that “racism” needed to be looked at as part of the reason the 6-4 vote was made to take funds from EADC and HCDC. It was a comment that did not sit well with “the Mayor” of Athens-Clarke County.

After informing the audience about her past experience of teaching poor, black, smelly children, and telling ACC Commissioner Elton Dodson to “be quiet,” Davison said, “To simply say our actions were racist is not correct.”

As Emanuel and I pondered over what we had witnessed, he said to me, “as a liberal white person, it hurts to be called racist.” I heard the pain in his voice and saw the hurt in his eyes as his words were expressed. Then, as gently as possible, I told him that white folks use the wrong definition of the word. In my opinion, when whites hear the words “racist” or “racism” hurled in their direction they flash back to their ancestors of the days of slavery, segregation and Jim Crow. You know, the crackers who lynched, raped and dehumanized blacks. The ones that said “the only good nigger is a dead nigger,” and that used their power to deny blacks fairness in the political process (oops, I guess some things never change).

So with the exception of denying political fairness, we would be hard-pressed to find any of those hateful whites in today’s society, and I certainly don’t think you’ll find any old-school racists among our elected officials. That means there has to be a 21st-century definition for the words “racist” and “racism” so we can engage in the type of open and honest conversation about race relations this community needs.

In April, the Georgia Department of Community Health released a report on health disparities for minorities - Athens-Clarke County ranked among the 16 counties facing the “greatest health challenges for minorities.” The report gave us this description of racism: “Racism is a belief that one’s race is superior to that of another. Institutionalized, this belief is systematically perpetuated into an almost unconscious mode of operation. Individualized, these biases are often manifested into behaviors that target groups who are perceived as inferior [emphasis added]. Even when beliefs about inferiority have been suppressed, racism can also be expressed as persistent attitudinal and structural biases that provide enhanced treatment or favored status for one racial group over another, even if such outcomes are unconscious or unintended,” the state document read.

Some think because two blacks sit on the county commission, and another heads the OneAthens initiative to reduce poverty, that racism does not creep into the local political decision-making process. However, the unconscious but intentional omission of Commissioners Harry Sims and George Maxwell, the two blacks who represent the areas of town that HCDC and EADC serve, from the preliminary conversation about taking the funds “feels like racism,” said my good friend, attorney Janice Mathis.

The commission’s actions “feel like racism” because, just like slavery, the people negatively impacted were left out of the decision-making process. It “feels like racism” because, just like lynching, it shows little regard for black life. It “feels like racism” because it says there is no trust between the races.

But, I digress. Let’s get back to redefining the words “racist“ and ”racism.” How about “arrogant?” What about “insensitive?” Does “culturally naive” suit you? Perhaps “possessing a false sense of superiority” is more to your liking? We could say “practitioner of disenfranchisement.” Or, let’s try a few of my favorites - hubristic, disrespectful and paternalistic.

Those words might make you not feel like a slaveowner, Ben. However, if you practice any of those behaviors with a person of color they might feel you are attempting to enslave their spirit and their desire to do for self. Then they will call you the one word that sums up their hurt feelings: racist. And when you hear that word, instead of turning defensive and worried about your hurt feelings, pause and honestly think about what you did that was so painful to another human being.

Rick Dunn