The biggest thing affecting America’s unity is racism. Since America formed itself on a wholesome, steady diet of racism, weaning it from its bigoted tit has proven difficult if not impossible, to say the least. Underpinning America’s racist core is how various American groups accommodate it. While mainly a subconscious choice, Whites tend to work towards covering up the appearance and realization of racism rather than eliminating the racism itself. This often involves efforts to rebrand the driver of racist deeds not blatant enough to definitively rule “racist,” as being caused by factors other than racism; by emphasizing all non race-related aspects of occurrences over the racial ones White Americans can pretend race-related factors are completely alien to an American conflict’s composition. The result is a general White populace seeking means of not seeing racism rather than working to eliminating it. One of those means is Black people willing to claim racism either doesn’t exist, is so miniscule that the chances of it being commonly present in average White people are slim, or that racism is a general human trait equally shared by all race groups. Most of Black America, including myself at times, supports White people’s efforts to ignore racism by bogusly affirming, sometimes through silence, the idea that racism either doesn’t exist or that Black people are overestimating its significance. Kanye West’s most recent comment that White lives matter is a prime example (more on this later). I am calling this overarching American cultural theme of reassuring White people of their idle benevolence, “Black Apologeticism” (not to be confused with what some have called “Black Apologectics“) and it is all but required for Blacks to have a chance at success in mainstream America.
Black Apologiticism prevents America from eliminating racism because it calibrates the racism scale to zero with some racism left on its plates; for White America to see racism, it has to be over and above what America already allows. For instance, George Zimmerman saw Trayvon Martin as a person committing a crime, despite him only being a child walking home eating Skittles. The racism present in America’s core caused Zimmerman’s skewed perception and despite reality being different, America’s idle and inherent racism caused George Zimmerman to engage in an armed pursuit to prevent the fictional deed created solely by his own mind. He ultimately killed an innocent child and much of White America blames Trayvon Martin for attacking an armed man pursuing him without reason rather than blame the man for his wild imagination. America’s inherent racism, by default levies criminality and violent tendencies upon the identity of all Black people. I’ve termed this tendency the Black Social Deficit. You can read more bout this here. The misguided standard of subconsciously factoring an ever-present racism out of potentially racist situations leaves White people with the impression racism is just a minor and rare occurring problem, not the main debilitating elements of American culture it truly is.
If Black people weren’t the ultimate authorities on racism, the question, “does racism still exist” would have been answered long ago with a resounding “NO.” White America is waiting for Black people to sign off on the notion that racism is a thing of the past, which, because we have yet to begin fixing the problem, is nowhere close to happening. Until Black people unanimously conclude racism doesn’t exist, White America will be held in a sort of cultural self-esteem purgatory, where slavery, colonialism and the evil nature of Western culture will never allow for them to truly feel deep in their hearts that the episode of their dominance in human existence contributed to our species’ betterment. In true Western fashion, White America tries to force the result they seek, finding and promoting Black people who demonstrate the propensity to ignore America’s past ills and their continued effects on Black social and economic prosperity. Kanye West saying White lives matter demonstrates this perfectly. Tucker Carlson did not interview him when he said Bill Cosby was innocent yet immediately had him on the show when he wore a shirt with the words “White lives matter.” Fox News is clearly elevating the message that suits its agenda. In this case, it opposes the message “Black Lives Matter,” which stands in opposition to America, not because of some of Black Lives Matters’ actions, rather America was built on Black lives not mattering.
White people consider truthful criticisms of their culture, “anti-White” or “racist,” which makes the phrase “Black Lives Matter” a criticism of the status quo, where Black lives don’t matter. White America standing behind Kanye shows that he’s saying what they feel. It shows that they’ve become so accustomed to being shielded from their culture’s ills and he’s offering them relief and a false token of proof that their postured, “racism is a relic of the past” narrative is real. Elevating Kanye’s voice enables White Americans to falsely regard mentioning White cultural shortcomings as uncouth, unthinkable and unfair. These White people, whether unconscious or intentional, ignore the rest of Black America, which is capable of giving them a realistic idea of where American culture stands in regard to racism. By bolstering Whites’ notions that White racism is scarce in America and only being practiced by very few White Americans far removed from the mainstream, Black Americans such as Kanye can dramatically decrease the amount of impediments to their professional and social success; socializing racism by calling Black bigotry, “racism,” removes many more professional barriers. These Black Apologeticists’ voices are minute in number when compared to the countless Black voices attempting to wake America up to its racist cultural flaws. Sadly, White America suppresses unfavorable Black message in favor of the ones that serve their end. This is why we know of Thomas Sowell and not Dr. Claude Anderson. It’s why we hear of Larry Elder and not Amos Wilson. We know about Candace Owens but not Dr. Umar Johnson. The NAACP can take a light-footed, throttled approach to Black advancement (which I do appreciate) but Black Lives Matter gets attacked from all angles and has been under constant attack since they woke much of White America up. White America is definitely deciding what Black voices White American citizens hear and those voices do not make explicit the truths about being Black in America today.
To fix a problem, you must first know and acknowledge that the problem exists. America is unaware that it is, as a country, racist. This nation zeroed its scale before it removed all of the racism from one of the scale’s plates and now it assesses racism based on rigged measurements. White America only considers intentional, explicit and blatant racism, “racism.” It ignores and denies the racism built into its fabric unless those effects are unashamedly obvious and affect their postured impression that Western culture is good. For instance, there’s no doubt that since the slaves’ emancipation, America, from academia to media to politicians, has constantly taught American citizens that Black people are criminal and violent. But average White Americans will unwittingly fight the establishment of this as a fact. Even when presented with evidence proving academia, the government and media actively and consciously drove campaigns to poison Americans’ minds against Black character, they will never allow themselves to realize the country they built and maintain is solely responsible. Even worse, this denial places them an extra degree away from asking themselves the question, “when did America correct this egregious misdeed?” This two-pronged self-esteem-protection method means America’s racism is immovable without White America taking the nearly impossible step of reflecting.
Black apologeticism is a survival technique for Black people in Western culture that helps them gain favor with the dominant White class. A Black person out of favor with Whites can expect a harder life than Blacks in good favor. A great example of the dynamic between the two are the numerous Black police officers who get mistakenly harassed or abused by police while off duty; they immediately go from good favor to bad favor based on White judgment. This shows that their profession as law enforcement officers solely keeps them from being treated as other Blacks are. An example of a powerful Black person practicing Black apologeticism is Dr. Henry Louis Gates, who police arrested for breaking into his own home. Despite being an esteemed academic, his favorable social status prevented him from seizing this racist incident’s opportunity to educate America about its own inherent racial bias. Instead, the Black leader of the free world, Barack Obama, being a Black apologeticist himself, held a “Beer Summit” rather than make the officer involved and White America see the underlying racism that caused him to arrest a man after being called to that man’s house then verifying that no crime had occurred. Gates could have shown America that the common practice of police arresting Black people for hurting their feelings, an act that White America should summarily deem wrong, is common and pervasive. However, Dr. Gates had to remain silent to not upset America’s racial status quo. The damage is done and Officer Crowley won. His racism got him a visit to the White House and a meeting with the President of the United States. Henry Louis Gates’ mugshot will live forever in infamy showing Black America the penalty for calling a White man “racist.”
The first Black President of the United States had to show White America two forms of his birth certificate, which demonstrates that even the Leader of the Free World, when Black and in good favor with White America, is subservient to White will. Higher bars for achievement and constant surreptitious yet unspoken obstacles are treatment Black people can expect when their behavior gains them favor with White America. Those out of favor with White America can expect the aforementioned deeds as boilerplate treatment when trying to succeed socially and professionally; such impediments will only be accented by worse actions. This overall social system subconsciously teaches Blacks to develop their character around seeking favor with Whites instead of truly independently forming their character based on the plethora of other non-race-related challenges they face. It trains Blacks to use appeasement as a tool for social and professional mobility. Being the “keep it real” people, many Blacks embrace the mentality of appeasement and internalize its nuances as truth. From this you get the Black conservatives, who embrace White male supremacy all but in name. Many lean heavily on their disadvantaged upbringing not to gain favor with Black people, but to emphasize the notion to White America that they represent a truly “Black” viewpoint.” This is why conservative White interviewers make it a point to showcase any disadvantage conditions Black apologeticists experienced.
Rather than Whites apologizing for racist deeds, Black people take on the burden by apologizing for considering racism. Then, just as someone in the wrong must overcompensate in their behavior to reassure those offended that they are no longer of the mentality that caused them to do the wrong to begin with, Black people then reassure White people that they are not the type to mistakenly see racism where America has postured itself not to see it. Having a “Beer Summit” instead of admonishing a racist White cop surely helped Barack Obama get reelected. I would have done the same if I were the first Black President. I regularly practice Black apologeticism in my professional environment by electing not to have discussions when certain racial situations come up. As an Assistant Director, at work my ultimate goal is get a day’s filming “in the can,” or completed. Arousing White people’s deepest insecurity is often counter to that purpose. Often, when I experience racism towards me, I use it strategically to make racist co-workers work more efficiently. I often make them big fans of me by simply moving past the deed and sincerely treating them kindly. No one works for you better than someone socially indebted to you. When I have to fix situations where a crew member practices racism towards another crew member, rather than simply admonishing the racist person, as a White authority would likely do, I, being someone thoroughly studied in racism, can explain to both sides the details of what occurred and likely why it occurred. It leaves lots of room for mutual ground and a compromise that will not interrupt filming.
Black apologeticism is blurring the mirror America needs to accurately view itself and make the fact-based improvements it needs to survive. Until White America relinquishes the power of the narrative to those affected by racism the most, they will never feel the inner peace that allows Black people to be so creative, empathetic and soulful. A portion of White people’s brain capacity will always be dedicated towards translating between society’s postured truths and the subconscious calculations the brain make solely using real truths. It’s time for media to go into the ‘hoods and learn perspectives from the complete Black spectrum. It’s time for White people to learn that words used to make unbearable truths tolerable, are just intellectual tools and nothing more. The underlying facts don’t change. It will be painful for White Americas to face raw truth but once the work is done, we can all build an American culture from a solid social foundation. Until then, White America will have a false sense of comfort constantly alternating with shame and paranoia burning in their minds. Foreign countries like Russia, Iran and China will continuously sharpen their tools at stirring internal American discord through social media. They are getting better and better. Whenever I comment dissentingly on a Conservative personality’s Twitter post, Russian bots and trolls attack me. I can tell they’re not American by their grammar, the general tone of their comments and the amount of followers their account has. Immediately, they almost always try to devolve the discussion into a racial argument. Americans don’t do this. I can say for sure that it’s getting harder and harder to detect these bots and trolls because their grammar is getting better and their accounts are getting older and attracting more followers. Foreign countries wouldn’t have such sustained operations unless they saw blood in the water. They know that race is America’s Achilles Heel. It’s time to heal our wounds and eliminate our vulnerabilities by having a forthright and robust race discussion. Let’s fix our biggest problem and weakness before our enemies use it to destroy us. It’s time to end Black apologeticism by compelling White America to open an earnest ear to all of Black America. Do not allow them to shield themselves from seeing their past. One they’ve taken the bitter dose of truth this democracy needs them to take, the healing will begin and America will unite on a foundation so indestructible, it makes the Constitution look like children’s schoolyard agreement not to peak when covering one’s eyes. We’re falling apart because of race and we can stop it now if we truly wish to be united.