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In response to
"That's part of it. But he also started his career fighting on the side of segregaionists, writing and helping pass bills that led to mass "
by
colin
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And I used to be the same type of person.
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For example, if I'm lazily letting my mind wander into reciting Eenie Meanie Minee Moe, the word "tiger" is not always the first word that comes to mind.
If I'm walking down the street, and I see a group of men coming toward me, my unconscious bias is to cross the street and get out of danger -- because the trauma centers of my brain looks at any group of two or more men as a threat. Especially if they are strangers. And especially if they are of different cultures than me.
But I've learned to skip right beyond those lazy thoughts, instincts, and traumas. I've learned to stop my thoughts, recognize where they are coming from, and then mull them over to see what unconscious biases are at play.
"Second thought to first action" has become a mantra.
What I'm trying to suss out here are the differences and distinctions among conscious racism, unconscious bias, and participating in a system that has any number of problems with systemic racism.
I think it's important to distinguish all those levels and variations. If we don't, then we simply fall back to "everyone is racist in every way possible", which is a hopeless situation, I think.
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