Eliminating the Waste of Racism
Joe R. Feagin and Hernan Vera
Introduction
From the perspective of U.S. society as a whole, the human time and energy expended in planning, staging, and implementing racist actions is extremely wasteful, for both whites and blacks. Although there is not much white awareness of the fact, racism involves substantial material and economic costs for whites. Racist actions sometimes produce immediate economic benefits, such as the chasing away of potential black workers who might compete for jobs. The long term effects of such racist actions, however, usually is chasing away potential employers who want no part of a city with obvious racial problems. Similarly, racialized events that occur in the US typically are broadcast to the rest of the world, resulting in poor cultural relations and potential economic losses.
The moral costs of racism go much deeper. Ultimately, a nation's unity, strength, and well-being rest on its citizens' compliance with its laws. Voluntary compliance with laws, both directly in the form of obeying laws and indirectly by civic engagement in voluntary and formal organizations whose purpose it is to create community and support social organization, contributes most to the strength of a nation. The moral costs of racism lie deep in the white psyche. White might have no sense of their whiteness if they had no sense of a denigrated and hated blackness.
Key Points
- Feagin and Vera point out that racism hurts Whites: morally, economically, and politically.
- Feagin and Vera suggest that Whites:
- confront their racist attitudes in their everyday interactions with persons of color,
- become more actively involved in antiracist groups and activities, and
- learn to oppose racism everyday by not laughing at race-based jokes, pointing out to others racist actions, and joining in collective action against racism.
Discussion Questions
- Explain the costs of racism from the perspective of symbolic interactionism.
- Use the functionalist perspective to explain why whites should work to eliminate racism.
- Use the conflict perspective to explain why whites might hold an interest-convergence opinion of race equality.
