Moral Minority

‘It wasn’t the job of people of color to fix us; it was our job. It was on us to practice that “personal responsibility” about which we so readily preach to people of color. It was time for self-help’ (Wise, 148).

Even though it’s a pleasant thought, that we can conquer our demons and make the world a better place, it is oversimplified, difficult and unfair to expect ‘us’ to conquer the same type of problem ‘they’ can’t. Let me explain- the problem with expecting people of color to simply be better and get out of their own situation is the historical context and the social stigma that has carried through, not to mention the institutionalized racism. However, the people trying to fight these injustices are on the wrong end of this battle as well, regardless of skin color. Talking about racism is racist and thus the minority status and social stigma falls on a civil organization battling media giants and bureaucratic institutions like academia and government who are attempting to hold the status quo. The status quo in America is libertarian, every man for himself, except when it comes to institutional oppression. This ideology, which has been ingrained by primary education and first-hand experience for generations, serves to keep people religiously committed to ideas and practices that they do not understand, deepening their emotional commitment on issues that they rarely if ever have experience in. Stratifying the general public is the basic idea of racial hegemony. What I’m saying is that no one who is trying to help should be turned away, and no one should feel that this is supposed to be easy. We are all fighting the society that raised us.