Racism: What It Is and How to Deal with It - Uned

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A Guide to Talking about Racism | 46 Gila A free book. PPC. Madrid, 1996 17 2.2 Fear of anything different? Racism and fear are two ideas that many people associate, because a racist attitude seems to be produced as a response to a threat, provoked by fear. Where does this fear come from? Fear is usually automatically ascribed to differences. It is as if differences, merely because they are unknown, cannot provoke curiosity, admiration, or some other kind of “positive” sentiment, but only put us in an uncomfortable position where we do not know how to react and we substitute our lack of a response with a racist attitude. As the next section explains, racism is learned and we are exposed to it constantly. In the same way, we believe that there are fears that are learned socially and are based on stereotypes. One stereotype that is socially accepted (which does not mean that there are not people who fight against it) is that gypsies cheat and steal, so we are taught to be afraid of them, or at the very least, to be cautious in their presence, not exactly because of the physical and cultural differences we may find, but simply because of a belief. 17 http://www.amnistiacatalunya.org/educadors/humor/acudit-01-10.html Text: “So you’re a foreigner, but not a soccer player. Wait till you see how hard it’s going to be.”
Module 3 – Racism: How is it produced? | 47 Racism is a pernicious mechanism that attacks us imperceptibly from childhood onwards and that makes us assume that we are “superior” to other people. It is so normalized and naturalized that we need to be reeducated in order to realize our advantages and the “racist” use we make of them: they serve to benefit us to the detriment of others. We consider ourselves equal to, superior to, and inferior to others, all of them different. It may be that it is not the difference that makes us afraid, but the threat of losing our privileges due to an inversion of the social order that is established and assumed to be “natural.” Perhaps because of this we do not feel threatened by the immigrants who arrive in Spain from rich countries, because we consider them to be equal to or superior to us and, therefore, they do not bother us or do anything “incorrect” that their social category does not permit them to do; but we do feel threatened by the immigrants we consider to be inferior, who we believe we can abuse, and whose right to vindication we do not acknowledge. So then, do the differences themselves provoke fear, or do we respond with racist attitudes each time people who we consider different and inferior threaten the established order of things? The question remains... we invite you to debate it. 2.3 Racism is learned “Racism is a cultural discourse that surrounds us from infancy, it is in the air that we breathe, in our parents’ advice and their ways of thinking, in cultural rites. We are exposed to it at school, in the street, and in the newspapers, and even in the works of people we are supposed to admire and who can, in fact, be admirable.” Memmi 18 Racism is learned, it is normalized, institutionalized, transmitted and possibly prosecuted less forcefully than other forms of violence. As Teun van Dijk (2003, p. 23) says, “the authorities and the police are much less effective combating these kinds of acts than when they face other acts of terrorism.” Society and institutions, which we consider entities different from us, protect us and exempt us, apparently, from the racist and/or unfair paths they may take. These are the circumstances in which we say things like “society is racist, but I’m not.” Module 4 of this Guide will give more information on how racism is learned through the discourse of the communications media, through textbooks, and in everyday life. 18 MEMMI, A. (2000) Racism. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. P. 112
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Racism: What It Is and How to Deal with It - Uned

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