There will always be racism in our society. Racism is simply never going to go away. It will never be completely eradicated. There are people in this country who are just as closed-minded and racist today as the ones who were burning crosses in other people’s yards many years ago. If you constantly measure our apparent “lack of progress” by pointing out all of the racists who still exist within this country then you have ideas about race relations that are simply unattainable. As long as stupidity exists… racism will also exist.
The measure of a society is not whether or not it contains some racist people within it but should instead be measured on how it responds to this racism. There was a time when a racist could be vocal without any consequences whatsoever. Overt racists could continue to run their businesses or continue their college education. They were not afraid to share their views with the rest of the world. Racists in today’s society live in constant fear of being discovered.
In an advanced society, its good-hearted citizens act like the antibodies of a healthy immune system. Acts of racism are immediately attacked once discovered. The racist is often shamed and publicly ostracized. Of course, these racist individuals have the constitutional right to say whatever they want. But freedom of speech does not also grant freedom from consequences. Our society will essentially “wall off” the offending individuals in order to keep the rest of our society healthy.
Unfortunately, all immune systems have a tendency to become hypersensitive. In our society’s strong yet impossible desire to eradicate racism completely, our citizens have started attacking any perceived threat of racism. The simple act of criticizing a racial minority can often be considered to be an example of covert racism. The antibodies of our immune system are now clearly attacking healthy tissue. Our society’s desire to attack and completely eradicate racism is now making us sick. This autoimmune disease has now become the process that is slowly killing us.
The solution to this new problem will require that we gradually desensitize our own immune system. Our children are not born with racial bias. If we do not teach racism to them… then they won’t go looking for it. Real racism will almost always reveal itself over time and when it becomes obvious then it should be dealt with immediately. False accusations and innuendos will continue to tear at the very fabric of our society. The long-term solution to this problem requires that all of our citizens are assumed to not be racists until disproven with undeniable evidence to the contrary.
