Race-baiting and arguments that appeal to emotion have been a fixture of left- and right-wing media outlets for a very long time, but never has race-baiting been more apparent than during the coverage of the State of Florida v. Zimmerman trial. The laundry list of emotional arguments include dubbing Zimmerman a white Hispanic, President Barack Obama’s statements regarding similarities between himself and Trayvon Martin and the onset of blogs, such as Public Shaming. Proponents of these racist sentiments have also attempted to change the meaning of racism, making racism applicable only to an affluent race of people oppressing non-affluent races — as if class structure were static and based on race rather than one’s level of affluence.
The theory of white privilege was invented by the sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois in 1935. His argument was, despite the similar disposition of lower class blacks and whites, it seemed that whites were granted a position of privilege in the public sphere that their black counterparts did not experience. Du Bois also believed in the racist theory of Pan-Africanism, which states all people of African descent shared a common destiny. Regarding whites, Du Bois stated, “they were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks and the best schools. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent upon their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness.”
All of the above privileges have one common thread: They were all tied to government programs during the time of Jim Crow laws. The police departments, public schools and public parks were all owned by the same government that implemented the blatantly racist Jim Crow laws. Once this fact is taken into account, it becomes apparent how white supremacy became an institutionalized part of society in the 1930s. But with the advent equally racist affirmative action laws, using this instance as proof of white privilege would be in bad taste.
If white privilege and white supremacy are byproducts of institutionalized racism, what would affirmative action in police departments, fire departments and institutions of higher learning be considered? The police department of Dayton, Ohio, actually lowered test standards for its black applicants in 2011, which gave black applicants an unfair advantage over non-black applicants. Affirmative action forces both private and public institutions to hire women and minority members despite their qualifications, which are examples of institutionalized racism in favor of nonwhites. These occurrences are contradictory to white privilege theory, yet equally racist.
The historical context of racism in America has become the foundation upon which race-baiters and proponents of white privilege theory base their arguments. If proponents of privilege theory are to suggest that only those with the power to oppress are capable of racism, the argument is also implying only a certain race is capable of racism. The heart of this argument is racist because it implies only people of a certain race are capable of possessing certain traits.
Blogs such as Public Shaming on Tumblr have attempted to propel a racial divide in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict by documenting racist tweets aimed at Martin. This is a prime example of race-baiting because the blog shows roughly 13 tweets — assuming 13 tweets are an accurate representation of an American population of 313.9 million.
Obama even joined in on the race-baiting by stating Martin could have been his son. Obama should also try and tell all the parents of brown children killed in his drone strikes that those children could have been his as well.
White privilege believers should recognize how hypocritical and outdated Du Bois’ theory of white privilege is and stop employing emotional arguments to defend it. I would hold these race-baiters accountable for the fact that racism has yet to be eradicated.
T. Emmett Ryan is a Santa Fe political science sophomore. His columns appear Tuesdays.
