The Zogby polling agency does wonderful work, I suppose
because it was founded by Arab Americans who are keenly tuned to the prejudices
of what Latinos call "Anglos" and Black folks just describe as "white folks."
Zogby recently came out with a
new
poll, that shows prejudice is deeply ingrained in the consciousness of an
alarming number of Americans.
Most Americans don't think they are prejudiced, but the
poll shows differently. In fact, given that people lie to pollsters, the
results of the Zogby survey are certainly understated. There are contradictions in their answers,
all around. Most Americans - and we are talking about the 70 percent of
Americans who are white - think that race relations have gotten better in the
last ten years, and expect that race relations will improve over the next ten
years. Meanwhile, the rates of Black mass incarceration and displacement
through urban gentrification climb higher and higher. Apparently, white people
have convinced themselves of a fiction, one that makes them feel better about
themselves, but that flies in the face of objective reality.
Americans classify crimes by race, as well. If you speak of
shootings and drugs, that's a Black thing, automatically. White crimes are
thought to be related to sexual abuse, insurance fraud, and identity theft.
What about the millions of whites who are hooked on methamphetamine, the
scourge of Middle America? It seems that white America has a blind spot for its
own addictions, and prefers to ascribe druggy behavior to Blacks and Browns,
only, despite the evidence to the contrary.
"If you
speak of shootings and drugs, that's a Black thing, automatically."
Two out of every five Americans would not want their
children to bring home a Muslim boyfriend or girlfriend - and those are the
ones who admit their prejudices against Muslims. One in three admit that they
would never vote for an Arab-American for president. Zogby has been doing these
polls for a long time, and has found that anti-Arab prejudice has increased
three-fold since the year 2000.
The poll showed Republicans are thought by majorities to be
to blame for wars, corruption, global warming, poverty and prejudice. But the
white people vote for them, anyway. The last time a Democratic presidential
candidate won a majority of the white vote was in 1964. Deep down, it appears
that white folks in the majority like wars, corruption, global warming, poverty
and prejudice.
There is a deep cultural malady in white America, a kind of
delusional disease that prevents them from seeing reality, as it is. They know that
racism exists, but deny any role in it. They recognize that systemic prejudice
has societal effects, but claim they play no part in the process. They realize
that the Republican Party is the party of racism, but vote for it, anyway.
White folks have an unexamined problem. They
t ought to stop looking at us Black
folks, as if we are the flawed specimens, and take care of their own
contradictions.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
Glen Ford can be reached at
Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
To listen to or download this Black Agenda Radio commentary click on the mic at left.
This week’s featured author is Sami Schalk. Schalk is Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Her book is Black Disability Politics.
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