What if No One's Watching?

I recently said something very awful. It was not intended to be awful, but awful it was. I've talked about it with a number of people now, both online and in my "real" life, and I've decided to write about it here, because I've really learned a lot and I think it merits sharing.

What I said was that breed specific dog legislation was the same thing as racial profiling. When I wrote it, I did not mean literally the same thing, I meant there was an analogy between the two, but that's not really here or there in this discussion--the point is that I compared them.

Reading that, I can bet you are having one of two reactions, as everyone so far who I've told about this or who originally heard me say it (saw me write it, actually, but no need to split hairs) has had one of two reactions. You are either thinking:

(a) What a horrible, racist thing to say!

or

(b) Yeah, BSL is a lot like racial profiling. So?

Well, I thought the second for a while, but now, thanks to some friends, I am convinced of the first, and I am going to tell you why. First please realize that while my intentions were not to suggest any of the racist things this statement suggests, but were rather to point out the ignorance and misinformation that leads to both acts, my intentions are not the point here, because just the fact that I could write something like that and not even think about the racist implications of it shows a big failing of mine when it comes to recognizing my own (unearned) racial privledge. This incredibly hurtful statement was something I said as an offhand comment, trying to explain why I think BSL is wrong, and the very fact that I didn't even think about making this comparison adds a whole other element to what was wrong with me saying it. It doesn't just show ignorance, it shows a blind spot a mile wide where my empathy should be. It's embarrassing to admit, but now I know and it's not something I'll soon forget--I have serious work to do in this area.

It is an accepted fact that dog breeds have inherent traits--not just physical traits, but temperment traits, ability traits, intelligence traits, etc. Although I do not believe this to be as true as some people do (for example, as I've said, I don't think an aggressive pit bull is aggressive just because he's a pit bull), I do recognize that it is true to an extent. Given that dogs have been intentionally bred for certain tasks for hundreds of years, it's not surprising that there is some truth to it. And to imply that the same is true of races of humans is absolutely and undeniably a horribly racist implication. While it's not an implication I meant to make, the fact that I made it without even considering it remains a problem, and it is something that I am pledging to work on.

I have never considered myself a racist. I certainly grew up in a racist family, and I certainly have lived and continue to live in a racist culture, but I've always thought I was beyond all that. I've thought that racism was the province of stupid people, or of people without morals. And the truth is that I'm not beyond it. To make matters worse, I've been so impressed with myself that I've been resistant to taking an honest look at my own behavior and calling it what it is, and that's also a failing. It is bad enough to be a racist, but worse yet to insist that you are not, that other people may have work to do, but you don't. Racism isn't just about making derogatory remarks or racist jokes, or about being afraid of people of a certain race, or subscribing certain characteristics to people of a certain race. Racism is also about being completely blind to how what you say and do impacts other people. Unintentionality does not get you off the hook, it just compounds your underlying racism with an extra layer of thoughlessness, and that is not who I want to be.