I grew up as a racist, so I recognize bigotry when I see it.
When I say that I was a racist, I don’t mean that I was in a Klan family or that I actively supported the oppression of Black folks.
What I mean is that bigotry permeated the culture in which I was raised, and it seeped into every perception of, and interaction with, my African-American neighbors.
I was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on the western edge of Appalachia, in 1971. I only ever attended integrated schools. However, the outline of a “Whites Only” sign remained above the drinking fountain at our courthouse throughout my childhood.
From my earliest days, I observed and learned both casual and overt racism from everyone around me. People that I trusted, respected, and deeply loved used the “N word” in regular conversation. Negative attitudes and stereotypes about Black people in our community and in popular culture was an everyday occurrence. Interracial romantic relationships were a social (and literal) sin for which you may never be forgiven.
I am not saying this to disparage my loved ones or my childhood community. Those folks were raised the exact same way as me.
I am saying this as a reflection of life in the rural upper-south in the 1970s and 80s. I am saying this as a reflection on a fundamental truth about America that predates our nation’s founding and has continued ever since.
Many of us raised in America, to some extent, have come to recognize the overt and subtle racism in which we were enculturated – and have worked, to varying degrees, to reject it.
- Commonly, we come to reject our learned prejudices, but simultaneously fail to recognize the systemic bigotry baked into the American system for 400 plus years.
- Sometimes, personal bigotry is genuinely unrecognized, but still protected as we refuse to listen, learn, and proactively work to change our attitudes and actions.
- And still others of us have not rejected our cultural or personal racism at all. These Kentuckians refuse to recognize the reality of their racism, and continue to nurture their bigotry like a virtue.
Among the worst of us are those who have actually recognized yet fully embraced their own racism. They see it as virtuous. They strive to demean and even oppress others. They believe that they and the world benefit when white people control the levers of government, commerce, education, and culture. So, they work to maintain the control systems that have existed throughout American history since the early colonial era.
Trump’s recent social media post regarding the Obamas was inarguably racist. I recognize that, and, deep down, so does everyone else. Especially the unrepentant bigots.
The post was fully within the historic stream of American racism, which paints African-Americans as less evolved than whites. As more primitive. As animalistic. As less human.
These images have been used for centuries to not only demean. They are used insidiously to divide us, diminish the dignity and humanity of Black folks, and then use that as a means of oppression and control.
Andy Barr’s most recent television advertisement was a little less overt, but the racism to which he appeals is blatant.
Barr wants white Evangelical voters, particularly men, to fear the equality of their Black, Brown, and even female neighbors. Then he wants to channel that fear into votes for him as the candidate who will work hardest to privilege white, male, and Evangelical voters above everyone else.
So, my fellow Kentuckians ...
- Do you find yourself unbothered by Trump’s post and Barr’s ad?
- Did you try to rationalize their reasons for appealing to bigotry?
- Did you defend Trump’s post as “just a joke?”
- Did you actually recognize Trump’s post and Barr’s ad as racist, but also told yourself that you still have justifiable reasons to continue supporting them?
If your response has been to excuse Trump in any way, it is undoubtedly time for you to wrestle with your own learned bigotry.
And if Barr’s ad seems to you like a reasonable and respectful way to win votes, it is necessary for you to have some deep conversations with your non-white friends. If you don’t actually have any close relationships with non-white individuals, you must honestly ask yourself: Is that is part of the problem?
If Barr’s appeal earns him enough votes to be the Republican candidate for Senate, that would be an insight into the moral center of the party. More importantly, it would be a sobering reflection of the electorate themselves.
In Kentucky, we recognize racism when we hear it, see it, and experience it. For many of us, it was our first language – but we refuse to ever speak it again.
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