Not Racist vs. Anti-Racist

I have been re-reading the article quoted above all morning trying to understand why I find it so repulsive. I am a nerd so I mean repulsive in a very literal sense. I can’t get close to the ideas. The idea of Oneness, as describe in this article, repulses me like opposite poles of a magnet.

I think my intense reaction begins with the fact that there is a fundamental and powerful truth in the idea of Oneness and the metaphor of Primordial Soup from the cover image of the article — that we all come from the same amino acid progenitors — resonates deeply with me. In his book, Stamped from the Beginning, Dr. Ibram Kendi focuses on “The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America”. He defines a racist idea as “any idea that suggests a racial group is superior or inferior to another racial group in any way.” Oneness is a frame that supports this idea.

But as I read through the article’s straw-men (Risk of “diversity bypass”; Fear of sounding too woo-woo; Reticence to invoke a perceived spiritual principle) I was left not just wanting a more nuanced critique, but repulsed.

In the quote above it became clear who Oneness is for:

“a leader seeking to connect to this work or an individual who ‘gets it’ but can’t explain why”

Dr. Kendi goes on to describe how the history of racist ideas in America falls in to three camps. Segregationist which is the idea that blacks are inherently and genetically inferior. Assimilationist which holds that black people became inferior over time and anti-racist which addresses the lack of opportunity and resources available to black Americans as a direct result of a history of racist ideas that have informed racist policies.

Oneness, as described in this article, seems to me to be positioned perfectly as an assimilationist idea. If we are all one, if you are not one then you are inferior. To ascribe to Oneness you only have to “get it” and your “getting it” can be air-quoted in to meaninglessness. And you don’t have to know why. Oneness is “new”, “unique”, “organic”, “green”, “impact”. Once you “believe” we all are one you can’t be racist, right? If you “believe” in Oneness you are “not-racist.”

We can distinguish between a racist and an antiracist by how they respond when charged with saying or doing something that is racist. No matter what they say or do when charged with being racist, a racist says, ‘I’m not racist.’ But what an antiracist does when charged with being racist is accept that idea or action as the definition of a racist idea and the definition of a racist: ‘Did I say something was wrong with black people? Yes, I did. So yes, I was being a racist in that moment. I recognize and admit that now. And I’m going to be different.”’ While a racist, no matter what, they’re going to keep saying, ‘I’m not racist.’ And the most extreme racists say: “I’m the least racist person anywhere in the world.” — Dr. Ibram Kendi

I recognize that my repulsion is mine. And, as a white man tying to understand whiteness, I see Oneness as yet another refuge for white privilege. Black people are being killed BECAUSE they are other, because they are not of One. Black Americans are killed by white leaders who will tell you they “get it”. Killed by white leaders who will tell you they are not-racist. Killed by white leaders who will embrace Oneness.