The relatively recent protests such as those in Baltimore and Ferguson and the activation of protest groups such as Black Lives Matter show that the problem of racial disparity is still an important concern in the United States. Yet the way that racial violence today is articulated and presented in the public is less demonstratively hateful, if compared to the past. James Baldwin in his short essay ‘Notes of a Native Son’ refers both to the experience of living in society where white hegemony is legitimized not only through microagressive attitudes as we see it today, but also on the constitutional level. James Baldwin shows that unlike white people, black individuals are always aware of their ‘blackness’, which to a big extent makes them act accordingly and thus reinforce the system of racial inequality.
In society with strong racial disparities, some races are more ‘visible’ than other races. Pearson argues that ‘racism does not simply happen in a general way, but racism lingers in a landscape, and contributes to the visibility of certain raced bodies and the invisibility of others, while making itself appear in a moment, felt in and on the skin’ (Pearson, 2015). Baldwin in his essay refers to the similar experience of being constantly perceived as a black man. He mentions the story from his youth where he was refused to be served at a fashionable restaurant because of his race. From this perspective, it is possible to draw a conclusion that black people are continuously forced to be aware of their racial status, especially it was true during the times of rigid racial segregation. Back then people were constantly ‘reminded’ of their ‘blackness’. Today the dimensions of racism have changes. Namely, today there are no massive Ku Klux Klan marches like the one in Washington DC in 1928 (Moore, 1990).
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In addition to this, there is no, at least seemingly, powerful social group that would advocate for the idea of the return to segregation era politics. Back in the beginning of the 20th century, when an individual was expected to use a different bathroom based on his or her skin color, race was a much more significant factor of defining interaction among people and people’s self-perception (Delgado & Stafancic, 2012). It is important to understand, however, that even today in the seemingly tolerant 21st century racism has not escaped. Today racism is based on the idea that racial equality has been achieved and racial tensions are only a part of history. One of the examples is the movement that advocates for the idea that the slogan “Black Lives Matter” should be changed into “All lives matter”. In the meantime, empirical evidence shows that black people are more frequently the victims of hate crime than any other racial group in America (The FBI). Racism is also translated into practice when people bring the examples of successful black individuals in order to show that race is not a barrier to a career success anymore.
Being the victims of the rigid system of disparity, black people are not provided with an opportunity to achieve their full potential and often act in accordance with what the ‘false consciousness’ dictates them. In order to explain the influence of race on the micro level, Baldwin refers to the description of his own father who seems to be shackled by his own race. The experience of being mistreated by white people has contributed to the development of Baldwin’s father hostile attitudes even towards those people who seems to have the best intentions (Baldwin, 1984). Indeed, the application of Goffman’s theory of labeling and stigmatization (Goffman, 1963) that assumes that people act in accordance with what society expects from them to racial issues is not new.
The theory is helpful in terms of explaining the disproportionate involvement of black individuals in criminal activity, for instance. Larson (2016) argues that there are ‘the long-lasting associations of blackness with criminality and whiteness with innocence, which have long justified the punishment of black workers and the control of all US workers’ (Larson, 2016, p. 36). Race thus creates a misconception regarding the relationship between skin color and personal characteristics, thus pushing black individuals towards the respective behavior. As a result, race becomes both a myth and reality. This tendency is threatening given that black people very often, not being aware of it, reinforce the system that exploits and discriminates them.
There have been undeniable advances introduced to racial relations in the United States since the time of Baldwin’s father that should be taken into account and appreciated. Yet it is dangerous to assume that racism is over and recent incidents of racial violence are exceptions from the general rule. Racial microagressive attitudes, including the idea that racism has vanished, that today can be observed in all spheres of social life (Delgado & Stefancic, 2012) are the weaker versions of the old tactics . While hegemony privileges those who occupy high positions in social hierarchy and therefore it is unreasonable to expect rapid changes in the system of racial inequality. Those who benefit from the system of discrimination are unwilling to give away their power. Long centuries of exploitation will not turn into friendship and tolerance overnight. Yet black community makes small steps to the society where it would have equal rights and equal opportunities with white people.
- Baldwin, J. (1984). Notes of a native son. Boston: Beacon Press.
- Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical Race Theory : An Introduction. New York: NYU Press.
- Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
- Larson, E. D. (2016). Black Lives Matter and Bridge Building: Labor Education for a “New Jim Crow” Era. Labor Studies Journal, 41(1), 36-66
- Moore, L. J. (1990). Historical interpretations of the 1920’s Klan: The traditional view and the populist revision. Journal Of Social History, 24(2), 341.
