Racism and The Idea of Individualism

 Individual freedom is what America is all about. You can do what you want and make the most of your life. Success or failure is in your hands. That's what we are told and most of us think it's how we live. While there is a lot of truth to all this some of it is a myth. Worse it almost never had anything to do with black people like me because of systemic racism. But I believe in the ideal while striving to make it more of a reality. How we talk about individualism in relation to race is problematic. The emphasis on individualism can be an evasion. It doesn't speak to blacks' experiences, it denies systemic racism, and hinders political discourse. Yet individualism still matters when discussing racism.

A narrow focus on individualism asserts that people are free with natural, or God given rights to do what they want with their person and property until they harm or impose upon others. In this case the only legitimate exercise of state authority is to prevent harm and keep individuals from imposing on each other. This kind of individualism leaves out some important things that make it difficult to discuss racism. Consider this - until 1865 black people were slaves and considered property by law. They were not viewed as equal in relation to whites. Their lives and labor were used for the benefit of slaveowners who believed that freedom and its emphasis on property rights entitled them to own slaves. Any interference with slavery was viewed as an attack on slaveowners individual liberty. We now find this ludicrous and view it as a great tragedy of American history. Yet the idea of noninterference and individualism didn't always apply to blacks. Sometimes it doesn't apply today. Despite guarantees of legal equality systemic racism makes a mockery of individualism. Think about policing that involves racial profiling or stop and frisk. No black person's individual rights are respected. Blacks are criminals. They are a threat. This thinking led to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police. 

At the same time people will argue that police killings and acts of discrimination are rare examples of racism. They are individual rather than social problems. Certain people are racist. Racist individuals commit microaggressions, join hate groups, and explicitly believe in White Supremacy. Such individuals are regarded as unreasonable and less educated. They are associated with the working class and those living in rural areas. This is the conventional wisdom in America. However, racism is a systemic problem. It is subtle yet pervasive. Covert discrimination and the disparate impact of seemingly neutral policies keep black people behind whites in almost every social and economic indicator. A narrow focus on individualism keeps us from discussing systemic racism because most whites don't identify with the system or society. They identify as individuals who haven't done anything to blacks.

Focusing on individualism can hinder our political discourse about race. People talk about color blindness and not seeing race. They argue racism everyone is or should be treated the same. There's a lot of emphasis on merit, competition, hard work, competence, and making good choices. Doing what's right and having certain personal qualities enables you to succeed. Most people would say these things are individual not racial. Some people make it while others do not. Whites and others who think this way don't want government involvement in the marketplace or social programs to achieve racial equality. These people tend to be politically conservative and sometimes moderate. However liberal minded whites are not always interested in addressing race either. Individualism and color blindness are important to them too for different reasons than conservatives. To liberals racism is a difficult and divisive political issue. White liberals want to win elections and advance their policy agenda. They don't want to lose white votes while addressing race or blacks' concerns. The renewed activist push against systemic racism by groups like Black Lives Matter troubles them. Black people demanding action as blacks not Americans is seen as identity politics by these liberals. They claim it denies the individual in favor of the group.  Calling white people and America racist is wrong and won't work anyway. Making race an issue puts whites on the defensive. They become racially conscious in opposition to blacks and anything that might help them. Liberals emphasize the importance of individualism and being American. They argue for good paying jobs, universal healthcare, and stopping climate change that benefit and unify all Americans are more important than systemic racism. 

Liberal and Conservative whites are often united in the belief that legal equality guaranteed by Civil Rights Laws and the decline in racist attitudes among whites means that inequalities are not due to discrimination or bias. Conservatives think blacks lack the cultural and behavioral characteristics to succeed as individuals in a competitive, market driven, society. They cite the decline of marriage and two parent black families. They also point to gun violence, drugs, and academic underachievement among blacks. Liberals look at the same problems claiming past racism has damaged individuals and created a kind of urban underclass. They point to the rise of a black middle class and successful individuals as signs of hope and progress. Individualism is the common denominator in both views of flawed blacks rather than systemic racism as the problem.  

Does any of this mean that individualism has no place in discussions of race? Is the notion of individualism racist? I think the answer is no to both questions. However, it is important to realize that racism in law, public policy, the marketplace, and social institutions interferes with individuals. It also denies them the choices associated with freedom. Black people have never been free or equal to whites as individuals because society has worked against us. Too often we talk about individualism in ways that deny this fact. When it comes to race whites want to talk about individualism outside any social or systemic context that gives it meaning or substance. This keeps us from doing anything about racism, and whites benefit collectively using the rhetoric of individualism while blacks as a group are denied and dismissed. White individuals come together in all kinds of common political pursuits related commerce, taxation, gun ownership, and religious conservatives. When it came to Slavery, legal segregation, opposition to forced busing, or affirmative action they come together consciously as whites not merely individuals. To criticize blacks for fighting against racism collectively and affirming our blackness is disingenuous and hypocritical. Groups banding together to fight for individual freedom made America. 

Confronting and solving the problem of racism goes beyond any high-minded sense of collective moral purpose. The freedom and wellbeing of every American is compromised by systemic racism. Mass incarceration and poverty mean ever increasing taxes for jails and safety nets. Wherever people can't trust the police because brutality and murder have broken that trust crime and unrest cannot be contained forever. Disparities in healthcare during a deadly pandemic puts us all in mortal danger. In these situations, we cannot talk about individuals as if the society they live in and the systems that impact them do not matter. The same thing is true about groups. Individualism is central to American identity as it should be. But it is only meaningful if understood in the proper context. This is especially true when talking about race.