Is Racism Under Cover?

Oppression, racial inequality, and segregation are no longer alive since the decline of the Jim Crow racism, which resulted in a non-racist world, where blacks and whites are equally accepted, right?  Wrong. 

Laissez-Faire Racism:  The Crystallization of a Kinder, Gentler, Antiblack Ideology describes a more modern and acceptable form of racist than the Jim Crows laws (also referred to symbolic racism).

Instead of a more overt form or racism, a hands off approach has been structured to justify racism in the US.   Laissez-Faire is to blame blacks themselves for the black-white gap in socioeconomic tendency.

Laissez-Faire racism emerged to defend white privilege, while explaining black disadvantage (pg. 22). 

Truth is that we can’t cover the sun with one thumb.  In other words, assuming that the issue is fixed by claiming that racism no longer exists is simply ignoring the racial inequalities that still persist today.We can’t pretend that minorities of color are no longer being prejudiced against and that we are in the same plain field as the whites.

In a very powerful video, Tim Wise gave the example of the time he asked a police officer what he thought when he saw a black male driving a brand new sports car in his neighborhood.  According to Wise, the police officer responded that he would automatically think that he was drug dealing.   On the other hand, when Wise asked him what he would think if the driver was white, the cop said he would think he was a spoiled brat whose father bought him a car.  

Although the police officer was not being overtly racist, the persistent negative stereotypes of people of color are still existent.  The officer's response demonstrated how minorities and whites are not in the same plain field because people of color are just not supposed to be financially capable of buying a sports car with legal income, while their white peers are.  

Covert racism is also demonstrated in the comments of news stories.  In a recent Chicago shooting, one person commented, “Maybe the black "community leaders" should quit blaming white folks for everything and start by cleaning up their own black on black violence.” 

This reflects the ideology of Laissez-Faire, which blames blacks themselves for social-economic inequality in the black-white gap. 

I can think of a dozen other examples where covert racism is present (Trayvon Martin anyone? Because let's face it--things would have been different if Martin had been white), but I'm interested in seeing your examples.

Do you agree that racism, although no longer as overt as it was in the past, is still present?  Can you think of any examples, where racism is still lingering? Are there any personal examples?