Innocence and Ignorance: Every Stick has Two Ends
-
Baldwin claims that racism is destroying America, destroys lives, and ultimately creates self-hatred. Indeed, it can make Black people believe what racists say about them. He calls the racist ‘‘countrymen’’ innocent because they are ignorant and do not understand the severity of their hate. In fact, he states that ‘‘[it] is the innocence which constitutes the crime’’ (Baldwin, 20). According to Baldwin, integration means becoming like White people and being accepted by them (Baldwin, 22). I would add that, in other words, integration means being submitted, being an ‘‘Uncle Tom’’. For White people, the prejudice that they are enslaved to is difficult to escape because escaping that prejudice would necessitate commitment. However, to be committed puts people in danger. In that case, the danger for White people would be to lose their identity, which revolves around racism (Baldwin, 23). Baldwin asserts that White people are not free, as they are trapped in a history which they do not comprehend. In this text, Baldwin states that James needs to accept White people with love (Baldwin, 22). How is that possible, when at that time, White people ‘‘accepting’’ Black people was only through hate?
Similarly to Baldwin, Yancy claims that White people, in particular children, are innocent of racial prejudice as it is taught to them at a young age by the society that they are brought up in (Yancy, 3). However, while being taught to hate others, White people do not learn to look at themselves. Indeed, their whiteness is invisible to them as they inhabit it. Nonetheless, racialized people see White people from an outside perspective, a neutral one. In fact, they interact with whiteness daily (Yancy, 7). She claims that ‘‘Look, a White!’’ is a gift, as it is an opportunity to call White people to responsibility, accountability, and maturity (Yancy, 5). She refutes the accusation of essentialism by stating that even poor White people use their whiteness as a privilege and as a justification for racial prejudice (Yancy, 13).
The Kominas prefaced their song ‘‘4 White Guys’’ with Maher Khalil’s story as it shows that prejudice toward Arabs is so prevalent that just speaking Arabic is an act of violence for racist people. In the video, they are seen playing tennis because it is often described as a ‘‘rich White man sport’’. This relates to James Baldwin’s claim that to be accepted by White people you must be like them. Furthermore, the real names of the artists not being mentioned in the credits illustrates the fact that racialized people’s identities do not matter, especially when they are the ones depicting it. Their identities only matter when they are painted by others. Finally, the pizza reference at the end might be an allusion to Maher Khalil’s story, since he was the owner of a pizza shop at the time of the incident (CBC Radio). -
I just noticed I wrote ''She'' instead of ''He'' while mentioning George Yancy. Sorry about that.