The Problem of Post-Racialism

M. Vickerman

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781349458493
  9781137322678
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137322685
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: European Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

This book argues that Americans' belief in post-racialism, rooted in both ideology and material progress among racial minorities, is wrong because both old and new patterns of racism continue to hinder the acceptance of African Americans as true equals in American society, despite the recent mobility of the black middle class.

1

Introduction: The Problem of Post-Racialism

The problem of post-racialism

Barack Obama’s election as president of the United States in 2008 was no ordinary event. It represented a radical break in American history, a potent symbol of black progress, and a significant example of the society’s ability to move some way toward living up to its higher ideals. The startling truth of a black president juxtaposed against the backdrop of a brutal racial history explains the excitement expressed by Americans and people around the globe. Observers who claimed to be witnessing history were not being hyperbolic; nor were their tears mere expressions of sentiment. Obama’s victory seemed the very essence of Martin Luther King’s Promised Land, where content of character, rather than presumed group-based attributes, determines the individual’s fate.

This Promised Land, of disempowered stereotypes, is also popularly viewed as embodying a post-racial state for blacks and other groups in which only how the individual thinks and behaves is of any importance. For instance, speaking of African Americans – who reside at the heart of the post-racial idea and this book’s analysis of the idea – the writer, Charles Johnson (2008), has referred to post-racialism as “the end of the Black American narrative.” By this, he means that victimization has framed Americans’ perceptions of African Americans. This narrative developed through three-and-a-half centuries of slavery and legalized discrimination but is now at an end. Having reached its climax in 1963 and its resolution in 1965, “everything since then has been a coda for almost half a century” (Johnson, 39). Yet, Americans do not appreciate this because they tend to interpret the new through the lens of the old. What is needed are new narratives, of individuals, not groups, that will more accurately reflect the present reality in which race has become unimportant (Johnson, 42).

Sentiments such as these reflect important unfolding truths about American society, but events subsequent to Obama’s election have illustrated, if anything, the complexities surrounding race in America (Hughey 2011). It is easy to see the appeal of the argument that this election demonstrates American society’s crossing of a threshold wherein factors other than race now determine the social status of African Americans. Concordant with the post-racial logic and American ideals that pull from sources as diverse as the Protestant Ethic and the frontier, these other factors revolve around agency: in the context of post-racialism, the idea that self-effort determines achievement (Bonilla-Silva 1999). But while agency is crucially important in shaping achievement, it does not stand alone. Achievement always results from the interaction of self-effort and a range of forces within which individuals are embedded.

Research on immigrants in the United States illustrates this point and holds lessons for the interpretation of the situation of African Americans. Contrary to the historical myth that only steely determination has pushed immigrants forward in American society, modern research has demonstrated that a plethora of factors combine to determine their outcomes. The immigration scholars, Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut, have captured this reality nicely in their notion of the “context of reception,” which posits immigrants as being embedded within a constellation of circumstances that determine their eventual fate (Portes and Rumbaut 2006). Positive circumstances accelerate the process of incorporation, often resulting in brilliant outcomes. Hence, we find that only four decades after Indians started arriving in America, en masse, there are already two Indian governors and numerous corporations headed by Indian CEOs. But the context of reception can also be mixed or negative, in which case immigrant outcomes may be far less positive. Many undocumented immigrants, for instance, struggle with low wages and enjoy only an uncertain perch in American society.¹

This difference in outcomes does not result from lack of effort on the part of undocumented immigrants because, like Indians, they tend to be quite hard working. Rather, a variety of other factors – including relative levels of education, possession of high level versus few skills, English-speaking ability versus its opposite, and legal versus illegal entry – explain the differences between Indians and undocumented immigrants. Indian immigrants are embraced by American society, while undocumented immigrants are accorded only an ambivalent welcome. In all this, we see a mixture of agency and forces outside the control of immigrants – structural factors – determining immigrant outcomes. Where structural factors work against immigrants, their agency might not be enough to boost them up the ladder of success quickly. For instance, Helen Marrow (2011) has shown that though undocumented Latinos assimilate into American society, their undocumented status significantly retards this process. Race, another important component of the context of reception, can have the same effect. As Joni Hersch (2008) has argued, immigrants who possess a dark complexion and who are shorter are paid less than those with lighter skin and who are taller. African immigrants are a good example of the former since many possess disproportionately high levels of education but typically receive less compensation in the labor market than possessing such qualifications would suggest (Dodoo and Takyi 2002).

The African American dilemma: Race’s salience amidst racial progress

These points illustrate that post-racialism’s focus only on agency is misplaced and that what is true of immigrants is also true of African Americans. If agency is crucial in facilitating achievement, structural factors must also concord with self-effort because conflicts between agency and structure will tend to retard progress. But such conflict epitomizes the situation of blacks in America, reflecting a complex situation where many aspects of past racial discrimination have declined noticeably, allowing for the rise in relative importance of educational qualifications, skills, and social networking. In other words, agency has become relatively more important in determining outcomes for African Americans. But racial discrimination has not disappeared and continues, in many ways, to structure their daily experiences and life chances.

This is evident, for instance, in the persistence of societal-wide anti-black prejudice, residential segregation, and racial bias in the criminal justice system and in the job market (Alexander 2012; Cole 1999; Feagin 2010; Webster, Saucier, and Parks 2011). A revealing illustration of the latter comes from research showing that, based only on racially stereotyped names, employers are twice as likely to offer jobs to candidates they assume to be white than to those they assume to be black. The implication is that, when job hunting, it is better to be called John or Elizabeth than Kwame or Nyesha (Bertrand and Mullinahathan 2004). Realizing this, some black job seekers have taken to “whitening” their resumes by removing facts – for example, graduation from historically black colleges or membership in black-themed organizations – that may imply racial affiliation (Luo 2009a, 2009b).

Surveying all this, one could conclude that the desire to achieve a color-blind society is outrunning reality. Though elements of this color blindness may be stirring, race persists in its salience and continues to surprise Americans with its tenacity. This viewpoint is at odds with the triumphalist notion that America has become post-racial and color blind. Rather, available evidence supports the view that matters of race lie in a murky zone characterized by both progress and the continued existence of discriminatory barriers (Bobo 2011).

Appropriately, Barack Obama, because he is often cited as the premier example of the eclipsing of race, illustrates how it still matters in complex ways. On the one hand, given the historic nature of his achievement, it is understandable why some Americans espouse optimism as far as overcoming racial problems is concerned. The Gallup Poll reports that on the night of Obama’s victory, 67 percent of Americans expressed this viewpoint, with white Americans being especially likely to view race relations positively (Newport 2009). This positivity, however, belied the use of race during the presidential campaign to undermine Obama. Befitting the campaign’s historical weight and the general sensitivity surrounding matters of race in America, some Obama opponents subtly suggested that he was not a “real” American (Hughey 2012; Kristof 2008; Mundy 2009; Ruta 2009). Rather than petering out, this claim, originally associated with the “birthers” (who doubt Obama’s American birth and, therefore, his legitimacy as president), has transitioned from fringe conspiracy to semi-mainstream acceptability. Reflecting this, the rancorous health-care protests of 2009 manifested placards depicting Obama as a witch doctor and inviting him to return to Africa (Fantz 2009).

Although not necessarily endorsing such crude imagery, large segments of the American public remain suspicious of the legitimacy of the president’s American identity. Before these suspicions forced him to release the long form of his birth certificate in April 2011, only 38 percent of Americans believed that he was definitely born in the United States. Forty-three percent believed that he was probably or definitely born in another country, or that they did not know enough to say. After the release of the birth certificate, 47 percent of Americans said that they were convinced of the president’s American birth but 33 percent still voiced strong skepticism (Morales 2011).

Responding to data such as these, the New York Times editorial page (2011a, A24) likely summarized the situation correctly when it noted that though several sources motivate birtherism, the racism inherent in the movement is noteworthy. That such deep pockets of racism remain in American society is – to paraphrase sociologist Bob Blauner (2001) – still “big news” because of the popular notion that race hardly matters in America anymore. More specifically, it matters because it illustrates how black upward mobility intertwines with, rather than erases, racial considerations.

The special burden of the black middle class

All this is especially relevant to middle-class blacks since they experience, in concentrated form, the peculiar mix of opportunity and racial atavism to be found in post-civil rights America. The spectacular success of the Obama family shows that this opportunity is real, and it validates the observations of analysts who point to the potency of education and attitude in bringing about upward mobility for blacks. In fact, the Obamas are only a particularly noteworthy example of a widespread phenomenon. The list of highly accomplished blacks is long and well-known, but it could be argued that even more important are those ordinary black families who have quietly gone about attaining the “American dream” through hard work. Statistics describing these blacks make for interesting reading but are sometimes curiously overlooked. People know, for instance, that a disproportionate number of blacks are poor – 27.6 percent – and that the mean income of all black households, at approximately $32,000, is fairly low. However, black households composed of spouses who work year-round display noticeably higher incomes, and 10 percent of black households earn more than $100,000 per year, compared to only 2 percent in 1967 (US Census Bureau 2012a, 34).

Still, these data need to be properly contextualized by comparing them with other social facts since, it turns out, the black middle class is relatively weak. For instance, black middle-class individuals possess less capacity than do their white counterparts to transmit their class status to their children (Isaacs 2007); nor have they escaped the strictures of race, since they are as likely as poor blacks to experience residential segregation (Cashin 2004; Iceland and Wilkes 2006). Moreover, they cannot presume the deference normally expected by the upwardly mobile. This is the gist of the “driving while black” debate, which became an issue because middle-class blacks were being systematically stopped by the police who saw an incongruity between the trappings of their success and their race. In reality, racial profiling affects blacks of all classes, but its application to middle-class blacks allowed the policy’s opponents to pull the practice from the shadows. By highlighting the incongruity between presumed class privilege and racial mistreatment, anti-profiling activists have been able to elicit sympathy among white Americans based on notions of unfair treatment (Oman 2009).

The weakness of middle-class status as a hedge against anti-black racism becomes particularly pronounced in public because it is difficult to consistently signal class status in this sphere. Middle-class blacks may have race imposed on them whether they know it or not (Jenkins 1994). Hence, as researchers such as Feagin and Sikes (1994), Neckerman et al. (1999), Lacy (2007), and Lee (2000) have shown, these blacks frequently encounter a range of negative racial situations, from slights to physical violence. In this book, I add to this literature by discussing similar experiences reported by upwardly mobile blacks in a Washington, D.C. suburb.

The racial nature of post-racialism

Taking all these points into consideration, we see that the notion of post-racialism has to be treated with skepticism – but not before it is carefully scrutinized. Although it might reflect mere impatience to move beyond the presumed irrelevance of race, it might also reflect a genuine belief that America has transcended color-coded historical patterns. This is one possible interpretation of research that has shown a steady erosion of expressed racial prejudice among white Americans (Bobo 2001). It is easy to see how this decline could be extrapolated to suggest the erasure of all prejudice, especially when combined with visual and experiential cues suggesting a concomitant rise in the social status of blacks. This zero-sum, racism/no racism, formulation is easier to grasp than the more complex black upward mobility/continuing racism frame, because, superficially, the former makes sense, while the latter seems contradictory. Moreover, the former jibes with deeply rooted American notions of individualism and success through self-help (Kristol 1966; Lipset 1996). That these beliefs accord with Martin Luther King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech only make them more persuasive, since they seem to capture the moral high ground in embodying the realization of King’s hope of a time when “content of character,” and not blunt notions of race, would determine social relations in America.

Ironically, the manifest racial and ethnic diversification of the American population is also strengthening the belief in post-racialism. Logically, introducing more people from different backgrounds into the country should increase consciousness of race in an already race-conscious society, but the particular perspective on race makes a difference in how this process plays out. To American ears, “race” often means “black” and “white,” and the deeply rooted nature of this framework, with all of its associated tragic baggage, has come to seem like a straitjacket. Diversifying the population presents an excellent opportunity to shrug off this painful historical legacy because it promises to move race relations beyond black and white and, therefore, beyond “race” (Bobo 2011). It becomes possible to speak of racelessness within a sea of obvious racial difference.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign catalyzed this tendency because his ancestry – part white, part African, with a partial Muslim and Asian upbringing – embodies this evolving American diversity. The Obama campaign hardly needed to encourage belief in his diverse “racelessness” because the media, fascinated with his ancestry, highlighted it endlessly. But, to maximize his appeal, the campaign added its own political twist to the notion of post-racialism. That is, Obama successfully distanced himself from traditional black power brokers and avoided discussion of race as much as possible (Seeyle 2009; Smith and King 2009). Journalist Peter Boyer (2008, 30) has noted that, “the wish for a post-racial politics is a powerful force, and rewards those who seem to carry its promise.” White Americans, battered by the “Great Recession” and looking for change, were willing to take a chance on Obama once he had shown a willingness to become “post-racial.”

Boyer’s statement, though couched in political terms, speaks to post-racialism in general and gets to the heart of the matter. It is more wish than reality but the wish is powerful and, therefore, must be taken seriously because the concept frames the manner in which many Americans view society. White Americans, surveys show, are particularly likely to view racial problems as being a thing of the past. For instance, in tracking trends in racial attitudes between December 1963 and June 2006, the Gallup Poll (2010) asked the following question: “Do you think that relations between blacks and whites will always be a problem for the United States, or that a solution will eventually be worked out?” On average, 46 percent of all respondents, 41 percent of blacks, but 53 percent of whites, answered: “eventually worked out.” Similarly, in a 2009 Pew Research Center study on potential sources of social conflict, 53 percent of blacks, but only 35 percent of white Americans, believed that black/white conflict is “strong” or “very strong” (Morin 2008).

There are likely many reasons for this difference in perception, but a persuasive viewpoint outlined by some writers is that white Americans possess a range of options on race that allow for its seeming diminution as a social reality, while blacks, possessing fewer of these options, persistently perceive race as a salient issue. For instance, Doane (1997) has written of the ability of white Americans to sublimate their racial identity within larger, superficially non-racial, identities such as “American” and “mainstream.” Also, sociologists such as Herbert Gans (1979b), Mary Waters (1990), and Richard Alba (2009) have posited that the decline of intra-ethnic conflict among white Americans has diminished the salience of particular European ancestries, allowing whites to claim a variety of different “symbolic” (i.e., socially costless) identities. Racial minorities – blacks being the paradigm case – on the other hand, do not possess these identity options, being tagged, almost unvaryingly, with a racial label. For instance, a white American with German and French heritage could plausibly claim a “German-American,” “French-American,” or just “American” identity, but an American with German and Nigerian heritage would most likely be viewed by society only as “black” (Waters 1990).

Outline of the book

This difference is important for more than psychic reasons because racial identity is associated with a range of negative experiences that shape quality of life and life chances, despite racial progress. Racial minorities do not believe that American society is post-racial, but the gap between this view and the widespread belief that the society is post-racial provides ample room for much social conflict. Consequently, analyzing the concept, as this book does, is an important task. I begin in Chapter 2 by examining the manner in which the media (newspapers), of particular importan...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction: The Problem of Post-Racialism
• 2. Framing Post-Racialism
• 3. Post-Racialisms
• 4. Materializing Post-Racialism
• 5. The Ambivalent Black Middle Class
• 6. Possible Racial Futures
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index