Racial privilege operates through controlling what counts as racism

Evidence

Insufficient insight into the systemic nature of racism fuels denial and the generic accusation that black people are oversensitive and resort too quickly to charging racism. The presupposition that those exposed to discrimination are not competent to make sound judgment about the situation is a powerful tool of everyday racism. Racial privilege is perpetuated when those who claim superior judgment are insensitive to recognizing everyday racial injustices, while claiming exclusive power to define reality as void of racism. Privileging dominant views, the knowledge and insights accumulated on the basis of repetitive exposure to and experience of racism are discharged as useless. In two sequential studies, I have worked out a methodology to recover those knowledges and to show that accounts of racism are not ad hoc stories. Accounts are reflective interpretations of realities based on heuristics of inference from general knowledge, and on heuristics of rational comparisons - with nonracist situations (for inconsistency) and with other forms of discrimination (consistency). The pain, anger, or disempowerment which discrimination often causes targets to feel are strong incentives for careful examination of an event before judging it discriminatory and taking action, the latter often at the risk of retaliation. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1496

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely characterizes everyday/minority-group racism as including a definitional-power dimension: who gets to name an event racist.
• XREF: Connects to existing vault usages of racialization as contest over meaning, and to the viewer-vs-accused epistemics of defining racism. — connects to: Denying that racism occurs functions as a key mechanism of everyday racial repression — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1482; Colorblind measures reinforce existing racial privilege despite egalitarian intent — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 117; Racism functions structurally apart from individuals’ personal intent — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1477 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Colorblind measures reinforce existing racial privilege despite egalitarian intent #expands (0.90) — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 117
• Refusing to count by race masks ongoing structural racial restriction #expands (0.90)
• Demographic privilege mapping along racial lines indicates structural racism #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1175
• Racism functions as practices that ascribe and legitimate social positions #expands (0.75)
• Racism functions structurally apart from individuals’ personal intent #expands (0.70) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1477