Reader's view: White people still deny racism’s existence

The Un-Fair Campaign, launched just last month, is timely.

Many whites prefer to believe racism was “fixed” during the Civil Rights Era. But those who work with communities of color, or live within them, know this is not the case.

Remember the comments in the News Tribune about the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, the hate comments about vandalizing it or ripping it down? That was just a few years ago. Yet my black husband, a professor, hears from white students in his multicultural class that racism does not exist anymore. The students of color just roll their eyes.

Despite testimonials from people of color, including prominent and successful people, and despite research that clearly shows continuing disparities, white people continue to deny the fact of racism. That is what white privilege is all about: The dominant culture does not experience racial bias and actually benefits without any overt action.

Consider reading through the Un-Fair Campaign website and learning how dominant-culture privilege manifests itself before rushing to deny racism’s reality.

Christine Penney

Duluth

Tags: readers view, unfair campaign, opinion, editorials, community