Let’s start with a brief summary of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s class Racism without Racists. The gist of the argument is that we have color blind racism. People say they don’t see race, but what they are doing, intentionally or unintentionally, is avoiding much needed confrontations with racism, which then reinforces racial distinctions. Racism without Racists points a finger to a feature of American society. Many folks don’t want to acknowledge that racism exists or is a large enough problem to warrant attention. This is why many public intellectuals spend a great deal of time documenting and discussion various racial inequalities.
For me, this argument is less interesting. The real argument is “racism is real, then what?” In other words, what do you do once you accept that people’s lives are defined and impacted by social hierarchies like race? Within sociology, you tend to find a few answers. Some folks will endorse activism, which is important but is more of a reaction. Then, some folks with endorse policies like affirmative action and DEI initiatives. I am more sympathetic, but these policies have a mixed track record. Finally, the more radical folks will promote a sort of socialist politics, which is a hideously bad idea.
There is another way: pluralism and decentralization. I call this the “Madisonian” approach to social policy because James Madison addressed a version of this problem in Federalist Paper 10. If you assume that people are tribalistic and seek power for their clan, what do you do? Answer: divided power. Similarly, if you think that people are irredeemably racist in some way, then you should decentralize social institutions. In other words, I have to live in the same house as a racist, then let me have my own room. Writers in a critical race tradition will say that such an arrangement may end up reinforcing racial hierarchy. My response is comparative. Maybe they are right, but pluralism has an imperfect, but decent, track record while the more radical solutions are often quite bad.
Bottom line: If you have to live with the bad guys, reduced the leverage they hold over you.
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Madison is da thing :)!