• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Don't Divide Us

Menu
  • cropped-Dont_Divide_Us-transparent-648x648-1
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Declaration
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Credits
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
  • Articles & Video
    • Original Content
    • Personal Stories
    • Reading and Resources
    • Video
  • Newsletters & News
    • Newsletters
    • News
  • Reports & Submissions
    • Letter Templates
      • Model Letter For Parents
      • Model Letter For Teachers
      • Model Letter for Academics
    • Reports and Submissions
CLOSE
You are here: Home / Article / Why Nobody is Systemically Racist

October 2, 2020 By counsell

Why Nobody is Systemically Racist

James Lindsay argues why falling prey to bad theory can make it harder to ascertain moral responsibility where racism is concerned

Given the events of the past few months, it has probably been explained to you at least once that all people who are “white” and “white-adjacent” are allegedly complicit in “systemic racism.” This may have come as a surprise to you, operating under the assumption that you, like most people, don’t think too highly of racism, can’t recall having supported it, and don’t feel at all as though you are complicit in something you’re not only not participating in but are also completely against. Something about this whole “systemic” thing may seem off to you, and you deserve a chance to understand it before you’re forced to accept it and take up a “lifelong commitment” to social activism on its behalf.

Your confusion is warranted. Because you’re not racist—or, if you are, because you take real and concrete steps not to let it influence the people you interact with in society—it can be off-putting to be accused of complicity in a “system” you didn’t even know exists and certainly wouldn’t support if you did. Whether you felt like any soul-searching should possibly precede genuine skepticism or not, you’d be right to ask what this “system” is, how exactly you’re “complicit” in it, and where these ideas came from in the first place.

Read more

Filed Under: Article Tagged With: critical race theory, racism, systemic racism

Footer

If you would like to share your experiences and insights tweet @DontDivideUsNow on Twitter and Instagram.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content

Help our work

Donate

Join the mailing list

Subscribe

* indicates required
Email Format
Read our privacy policy.

Copyright © 2021 Fourth World Group Limited except most photos · Web development by counsell.com · Log in