Who can reduce racism in America?

In a recent article, the author points out that many competing and opposing factions believe that the only way to reduce racism in America is to tear the system down and start all over again. Starting over again will include going back to the time of the Attack of Moses regarding his wife who was a woman of color. Reducing racism in America will require determining the systemic inflection point that will provide the greatest impact with the least amount of effort.

According to the article, millions of good people sit on all sides of the racial fence, and it is wrong to dismiss their impact, even at a time they’re getting drowned out by rioters and reactionaries. Advances in racial understanding are such that we no longer even notice many of them, such as counting how many blacks are on the basketball court at once, or whether the white office is run by a black supervisor.

Yet we are not happy, we are not satisfied and we are becoming increasingly frightened. Many blacks think racism has gone from overt to a more elusive but sinister subtle brand.

Many whites are frustrated that in their eyes, no advances seem good enough. They think blacks should appreciate being granted their rights and take advantage, which offends blacks who don’t think they should have to have been “granted” their rights in the first place.

Democrats blame Republicans for endorsing and legislating in favor of an “Incarceration Nation” that has devastated families by putting much of black America behind bars. Republicans blame Democrats for thinking that throwing money at affirmative action programs would solve everything.

They point out that Democrats are in power in most of America’s major cities, yet that is where much of the tension is found. The election of our first African-American President, which was hailed as the exclamation point of racial progress in America, has turned White House politics into the most bitter, racially polarized battleground of all.

Why does racism in America result from blame?

Blame contributes to the final stages of a dysfunctional organization

Dysfunctional Organizations

There are five levels of a dysfunctional organization. The foundation for the dysfunctional organization begins with each person’s use of defense mechanisms for coping. Defense mechanisms are the unwritten rules an individual learns and utilizes to effectively deal with circumstances that are upsetting, embarrassing, or threatening.

The second level is skilled incompetence, which is the outcome of the defense mechanisms we have internalized. When the defensive behaviors we’ve learned are transformed into a learned behavior, that behavior becomes a skill – albeit an incompetent skill – that we consider necessary in order to deal with issues that are embarrassing, threatening, or upsetting. A skill that is learned from the regular application of a defense mechanism has a high degree of incompetence embedded within it, because we are unaware of how this skill will impact our future.

Skilled incompetence transforms into a defensive routine. Defensive routines are the third level. When the skilled incompetence is automatically exhibited at all times, the behavior is now a defensive routine.

Defensive routines lead to fancy footwork. Fancy footwork is the fourth level. Fancy footwork happens when individuals try to deny the behavioral inconsistencies they exhibit, or else they place blame on other people, which results in distancing themselves from taking responsibility for their behavioral inconsistencies.

Fancy footwork leads to organizational malaise. Organizational malaise is the final level. During this phase the individuals in the organization will seek to find fault within the organization rather than accept responsibility for their actions and correct their behavior accordingly. The individual continues the process by accentuating the negative and deemphasizing the positive in an effort to cover up their actions. The organizational malaise is further exacerbated by a refusal of one or all the members to discuss their area of responsibility.

Many people and organizations fail to acknowledge how they contribute to racism in America. One such organization is the American teaching staff. The American teaching staff is 72% White female.

The White female teaching staff becomes the inflection point to reduce racism in America. No matter what side of the fence that you are on when it comes to racism in America, you are going to face a White female teacher.

White female teacher can reduce racism in America by promoting positive racial teacher student classroom relationships (Properateasclaships) instead of relying on The Raccelerate Phenomenon.

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Where do racists in America live?

 

Dr. Derrick L. Campbell, Ed.D.
www.positiveracialrelationships.com
PO Box 1668 Blackwood, NJ 08012

 

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Author of Promoting Positive Racial Teacher Student Classroom Relationships

 

 

“The model that you use to analyze teacher-student relationships is a good one for most school districts”.

~ Joe Vas ~ Perth Amboy Mayor
“Dr. Campbell’s Cultural Relationship Training Program is comprehensive, informative, and should be required training for all schools”

~ Darrell Pope ~ Hutchinson Kansas NAACP President