I dunno, white people in the antebellum south had lots of exposure to people of different cultures/races (aka the slaves on which they were economically dependent) and they still managed to be racist as fuck. I think waving away racism as just the result of ignorance obscures its real character as straight-up exploitation of other human beings.
I don’t believe ignorance or lack of familiarity is the root of all racism, or even most, just a factor in some of it.
I grew up in a practically all-white school system because I grew up in a practically all-white rural county. I had to unlearn a lot of things when I move to New England. A lot of people never leave their comfort zone.
I believe exposing kids to people from varied backgrounds helps them not grow up to be bigoted. I don’t believe it’s fair to expect minority kids to represent their minority–I had a small taste of that growing up with an unusual last name and accent in my town. I don’t know how to reconcile those two beliefs.
I dunno, white people in the antebellum south had lots of exposure to people of different cultures/races (aka the slaves on which they were economically dependent) and they still managed to be racist as fuck. I think waving away racism as just the result of ignorance obscures its real character as straight-up exploitation of other human beings.
I don’t believe ignorance or lack of familiarity is the root of all racism, or even most, just a factor in some of it.
I grew up in a practically all-white school system because I grew up in a practically all-white rural county. I had to unlearn a lot of things when I move to New England. A lot of people never leave their comfort zone.
I believe exposing kids to people from varied backgrounds helps them not grow up to be bigoted. I don’t believe it’s fair to expect minority kids to represent their minority–I had a small taste of that growing up with an unusual last name and accent in my town. I don’t know how to reconcile those two beliefs.