"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction." -- Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.
Before we call someone a racist, we should ask ourselves: are we moved to call someone a racist because we feel compassion for the victim or because we feel hatred toward the perpetrator?
Calling people racist shuts down conversation. Not that there isn't racism is the world, but I believe most individuals do not deserve to be called that. Or, rather, many of us would deserve to be called that because we all have blind spots and very few of us have fully examined lives. It would be better to ask individuals to reflect critically on their assumptions and prejudices (which are really pre-judgments). And because we are human beings and fallible, we all have prejudices to check.
We live in a culture of accusation, suspicion, division and victimization. Some of this is by design and manipulation from those who stand to profit and benefit from a People divided. Some of this is by design and manipulation from those who stand to profit and benefit from a People divided.
What if, instead of being divided against each other over race, we stood together against those who perpetuate economic injustice against all of us? Imagine how the world would change.
Let's ask ourselves: How do we bring out the best in each other? Giving each other the benefit of doubt would promote civility, cooperation and democracy. At the heart of the notion of "benefit of doubt" is the virtue of humility.
In advancing equality, we would do well to look at how institutional rules and regulations reinforce inequality and prejudices that undermine democracy's most cherished principle: all men and women are created are equal.
On Calling People Racist
