Soft Bigotry

"The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations"

The soft bigotry of a bad law

This has nothing directly to do with the article, but this phrase, which apparently came from a George W. Bush speech on the dreaded "No Child Left Behind" program, is something I've been searching for, for many years. I've usually expressed it as paternalistic notions of government treating non-whites as children in the way that government seems to express the goals and methods of programs. I often hear just as much racism in these supposedly altruistic goals as anything else short of a Klan member.

Think of Joe Biden talking about Indians working at the 7-11. Never mind how many doctors, programmers, engineers, and other professionals living in this country have Indian ancestry. This is the type of bigotry that comes from whites who have lowered expectations of non-whites and therefore think we need to help them overcome what Hunter Thompson called their "racial handicap".

These are absolutely horrible sentiments that only make the problem worse since it often appears that some members of these groups start to buy into other people's sense of low expectations. It becomes a social construct after a while. Like your Irish friends who pride themselves on having drinking and fighting problems. They think it is part of their identity.

I've been trying to think of ways to classify different types of racism, since people cry foul over racism all the time in this country. We have a gut reaction some times as to whether something is or is not an example of racism and I believe our varying notions of what constitutes racism in a given instance is usually determined by our subconscious notions about what type of racism is being exercised.

A. There is outright racism. The kind where people want someone killed or otherwise physically hurt because of their race. This is obviously the worst kind. It can be completely irrational drive against everyone encountered of a particular race or (perhaps worse) a methodical, albeit insane, notion that the elimination of an entire race will somehow be a benefit. Call this Hitler racism.

B. There is what I call "petty" racism. This is when a person has a notion that is or might be considered racist, but does not otherwise act on it in any discernible (or at least aggressive) way. This is the sort of racism where people outright believe and think that a particular race is inferior to their own and/or others in one or more particular areas for whatever reason. People may even be able to point to some basis in fact for arriving at their conclusions whether or not they are correct. People who have these particular beliefs can usually function with the race that they find inferior. In fact, I have noticed that they are often much better at social interaction with the races they believe inferior than those in category C or D. Call this Dog the Bounty Hunter racism.

C. The "low expectations" racism. This is the notion that special exceptions need to be made in order to help members of a particular race because "they don't have it as well as we do" or some other false pretense that brushes everyone of a particular race with as broad a stroke as any real racist. It usually practiced by those who like to cry racism where none exists - often as a way to alleviate their own self-doubt about their beliefs. This is the quintessential "white guilt" that really accomplishes nothing. This type of racism, to me, is more detestable than that in B above, because it is contrary to the notion that people are and should be treated as individuals and also since it helps enable the beliefs of people with type-B racist tendencies. When you say group X, where X is defined by a particular racial or cultural characteristic, needs special treatment different than the rest of us, you are ultimately saying group X is inferior on some level. The problem is that if you are giving away money or other benefits, you may have no trouble finding a large number of members of group X willing to play the part of the needy inferior. Only a fool would reject free money. The problem is when it starts to infect people's individual pride or translates into a social construct that members of X are ALL inferior. Hence the phrase, the "soft bigotry of low expectations" - you're inferior, but it's not your fault. This is how you treat an infant or a young child - never an adult. Call this Joe Biden racism.

A final note is that I almost called category C "Michael Richards" racism. I believe that people who fall into category C are really people who are in category B but feel that since racism is wrong they have to make up for it somehow. They cannot get past the idea of judging people by categories. The idea of making individual assessments never enters their minds because they have never done it. When they have pent up these thoughts long enough, they sometimes come out in outbursts like the Michael Richards' rant. Is he a racist? Yes. Is he a category A racist? No. Chances are he has followed the rest of Hollywood by calling everyone else in the world racist and saying we need to give money to people of a particular race because they are less fortunate than us. Then two black hecklers come along and instead of treating them as hecklers, he treats them as black people, you know, the ones he has been helping in order to sooth his white guilt and show what a non-racist person he is.

D. Post-modern "other" racism. This is another bad form of racism and I will have to say that I likely suffered from it from time to time. This is the notion that members of another racial group are somehow "superior" to our own in some manner. This is where you have white kids pretending to be black. This is where Mrs. Costanza completely throws away someone's advice because she thought she was Chinese, but wasn't. The idea that the "other" somehow has more wisdom and knowledge than you because they are a different race is still racism - not judging individuals as individuals. I view this type of racism as just a different stage of B and C. You believe that all members of a particular race are inferior, so you compensate by convincing yourself that they are superior in some other way whether in music, fashion, language, or some other sense.

I probably have the start of a good doctoral thesis here although I'm sure someone has already come up with these notions. Something to be explored later perhaps.