3 Reasons People Deny that Discrimination Exists

“Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin***

Some years ago, I used a video that featured conversations with real people. One of these individuals, a white man, possibly in his late 30’s, early 40’s, was adamant in his belief that racism, discrimination and institutional racism were not a real problem. There was much dialogue from a racially diverse group of participants and facilitators but nothing they shared about their own life experiences was getting through to him so he could understand their respective experiences, challenges, pain and feelings around race and discrimination.

He was adamant that people in authority and in decision-making positions are operating out of integrity and what is best for all involved. Everyone is on a level playing field with equal footing. In other words there is no racism, sexism or discrimination.

Regardless of a person’s experiences in life, it is so important for each of to recognize that our own experiences do not depict the experience of those around us. We must also realize that everyone’s mindset is not good… nor is every mind within a specific group, laden with malintent.

Diversity is a wonderful and complex reality. There are so many dimensions of difference that we often fail to think about, but the ones that tend to give us the most challenges are those we can see. When it comes to race, ethnicity, age and disability we may see it but we don’t always see clearly. We have a tendency to miss the mark on compassion, equity and empathy.

Most such beliefs are taught early in life, according to David R. Williams, a Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also a Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology at Harvard University. In an online discussion, hosted by the Radcliff Institute in 2020, following the death of George Floyd and in the midst of nation-wide protests, Williams shared that studies have shown that at age 5, children express the same degree of empathy when they are shown pictures of people both white and black being pricked by a pin. By age 7, they indicate the belief that the white person feels more pain. By the age of 10 the bias is both more stable and pronounced.
“When you lack empathy for a population, you don’t feel their suffering, and you do not support policies to … address the challenges the population faces,” Williams said.

When people deny the reality of discrimination, racism and institutional racism, it may be attributed to a variety of reasons. Here are 3 reasons people deny that racism and discrimination exist:

1. An inability to acknowledge White privilege

White privilege is rarely if ever cast in a positive light because, by definition it is unfair to all others. The meaning of the words “white privilege” is the intrinsic advantages held and enjoyed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society that is characterized by racial injustice and inequality. Keeping people in a state of blind ignorance helps to protect and maintain privilege. This, fuels the movement to prevent children from being taught true American history, rather than allow them to hear of and develop genuine empathy when learning of the experiences of other Americans who don’t look like them. When I was in school, as liberal and inclusive as my schools were, I never heard anything about the history of Asians in America or those of Latin descent. I did learn a great deal about Africans and the African slave trade, Jewish culture, Indigenous Americans and White Americans, so I give credit where credit is due.

There is the need, on the part of those who are privileged, to deny receiving favorable treatment because this implies they are in essence, bad or in some way guilty for the unfair treatment of their societal counterparts of color. They can be identified by statements that spotlight hardships they have faced in their lives. The implication here is that if they have endured and overcome hardships they must not have privilege. Unfortunately, hardships are to be had by every human being. Christians can attest to that as stated in scripture and everyone can attest to it by virtue of living.

A life inclusive of hardship does not negate a privilege that has been bestowed upon a person. The prodigal son had a terrible time during his time away from his father, but the wealth and privilege that was his all along, was quickly reclaimed upon his return. His hardships did not change any of that. He was able to retrieve his privilege as soon as he chose to do so. Education and exposure to the realities of others and the cultures of others can dissolve this ongoing issue… except with those who are truly biased and… well… racist. Such individuals have no interest in learning or embracing anything that goes contrary to what they believe, that American belongs to one race and everyone else is a threat to that belief.

2. Having Friends of Color Who Refute the Seriousness of Discrimination and Systemic Racism

There are four levels of oppression—Ideological, interpersonal, institutional, and internalized.

• Ideological Oppression is at the core of an oppressive society or environment. It is the idea that one group or population is superior to others and ultimately has the right to control those others. The dominant group holds the general belief that they are better, smarter, more capable, more hardworking, superior etc. This in turn incites their thinking that those outside their group are lazy, shiftless, uneducated, inferior etc.

• Institutional Oppression has ideological oppression as its backdrop. The ideology gets built into the institutions of the society in which they live, embedding itself in the legal, education, corporate, political, housing, economic and communication systems and more. This of course then imparts that ideology in policy and practice in each.

• Interpersonal Oppression has ideological oppression as its foundation and institutional oppression as the catalyst. It is the oppressive interactions that occur between those who believe themselves to be superior and deserving and those they feel are incompetent and inferior. The dominant individual exhibits their thinking through mistreatment and disrespect toward those believed to be inferior.

• Internalized Oppression comes as a result of those who have suffered the most from the mistreatment of the dominant group’s ideology and each layer of oppression that they experience daily. Internalized oppression occurs when the oppressed group internalize the negative messaging they receive from those who feel superior to them, from the institutional degradation and the disrespectful treatment at the interpersonal level. Over time, they come to believe the negative messages about themselves. People of color who cannot identify the oppression around them are yes, in denial but far worse they have internalized the messaging that all of the oppressive behaviors that exist are justified, fair and an appropriate way in which society should conduct itself. They believe the ideology that the oppressed deserve to be oppressed and the superior deserve to be in a dominant position over them. They may or may not be able to see how they fit in this paradigm but believe they are in a good place amidst the bedlam.

3. Holding a Belief that People of Color Are Deficient and Should Take Responsibility

This viewpoint can reasonably be assigned to those who have the belief that we all determine our own fate. It’s like the old adage “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” which means fix your own problems, using your own resources and without the help of others. It is meant to be a compliment when one does this. The belief however does not take into account that not everyone has a bootstrap to pull themselves up with. Some don’t even have boots. They unfortunately are ascribing to the ideological thinking that actually creates the oppressive society they contend does not exist.

What these individuals don’t realize is that, just because they have the means and methods to help themselves, doesn’t mean that others have the same. I liken it to a person looking in the mirror believing that they are looking through a window then attributing what they see in that mirror as an accurate reflection of the outside world. This mindset is one that is delusional at best but quite possibly a way of hiding a sense of guilt.

Many politicians and others who speak very publicly on the matter express the belief that institutional racism does not exist unless it is blatant and intentional. Implicit or hidden bias is non-existent. They again, contend that people can just help themselves and pursue success like everyone else, so if there were to be any blatant acts of racism, it wouldn’t have any impact anyway. To them, the claims of institutional racism and racism in all its insidiousness, are ploys to make White people feel guilty and give people of color more undeserved favor. Another name for this viewpoint is “blaming the victim.”

Closing Thoughts

Watching George Floyd on social media as he literally breathed his last breath at the hands of police officers in 2020 got the world’s attention. At that point it was hard for the unconscious participant of societal oppression to deny the abuse of power at the institutional level. It opened eyes and created more dialogue about every level of oppression. Though every person did not walk through the gates of wisdom asking for greater knowledge and understanding, many did. Some have unfortunately, already laid it to rest because they can, while others continue to exist in it because they must, knowing that some of the conversation made a difference but it was only a few pillars amongst a million that need to be torn down.

In the video I used for diversity facilitation, the man who was adamant in believing that racism and discrimination was not real, came to the conclusion that he was mistaken. He cried and admitted that it was hard for him to accept the fact that he had privilege while millions of Americans suffered at the hands of people and institutions that were meant to help people. To admit this was to admit that people are flawed and in some cases down right evil. He struggled to believe there was that much evil in the world around him. Fortunately, he now had a circle of people who could support him as he came to terms with his realization.

We might say that was a happy ending but due to the nature of the subject and the pain of discrimination and racism its only the beginning. Here’s to More Beginnings!

Kind Regards,

C.

Photo by Daniel Reche: Pexels.com