The Idea of Equality

When I think of antiracism, there is no one better to describe than the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As we discussed in class, everyone knows the famous line of “I have a dream.” However, an even more poignant message immediately follows that line as Dr. King notes the importance of judging a person on the content of his or her character over the color of his or her skin. It is a line from this phenomenal speech that I find compelling and utterly moving.

This segment from Dr. King’s speech pertains to all races. It is important to focus on the characteristics of individuals over physical appearance in order to avoid stereotypes and racist attitudes. The idea of colorblindness suggests that we have reached King’s goal of a racism-free society; unfortunately, that is not the case, and also, race should be able to be acknowledged without judgmental attitudes in society. There are still individuals with racist beliefs and one of the things that fuels these beliefs is obviously stereotyping – something that Bonilla-Silva makes clear in his writing (particularly in Chapter 10: Exposing the Whiteness of Color Blindness).

I wholeheartedly agree that the ideas of whiteness and white privilege are prevalent in certain aspects of modern society. However, to say that “whiteness must be challenged wherever it exists” and stereotyping whites for having a “collective denial about the true nature of race relations” can almost be considered reverse discrimination – if I am interpreting this correctly. While fighting against the discrimination of African Americans, he appears to be using stereotypes of whites to strengthen his argument. Bonilla-Silva is advocating for equality but he comes across as slightly hypocritical in certain passages, particularly with his stereotype that antiracist whites will “most likely be working-class women” and his argument against whites’ thesis on affirmative action.

Though Bonilla-Silva seems to be borderline mocking this thesis (“We are for equal opportunity and that’s why we oppose affirmative action”), the statement seems directly reflexive of what Dr. King is speaking about in his speech. Why even bother asking for race or ethnicity on a job application? If an African American person is more deserving a job or enrollment in a college university over a Caucasian man or woman, he or she should receive the position or acceptance into the school.

As I read Chapter 10, I could not help but wonder how Dr. King would feel when reading this. Would he agree with these statements from Bonilla Silva or would he feel that several segments of the chapter bordered on reverse discrimination? Bonilla-Silva uses “most whites” several times in this reading. Isn’t that phrase exacerbating the potential for more stereotypes by categorizing groups of people, regardless of race? Also, one of the earlier quotes on the first page reads, “People are people, not black, white, or Indian. White males are just people.” In all seriousness and in no sarcastic tone whatsoever, what does Bonilla-Silva find wrong with that statement? I agree with Bonilla-Silva’s advocacy against discrimination but it almost seems as if he is shifting the focus from one race to another rather than eliminating the problem altogether.