Resisting the Weight of Socialization Requires Conscious Thought

Dear Mr. Wise,

Your article offers many valid points and I believe I follow what you are saying throughout the whole of the essay. Indeed, it must have been a shock to hear such a vile slur uttered from a woman who had great disdain for racism. The idea that she might say such things in her mental decrepitude truly does speak volumes about the country in which she was raised. Apart from the fact that her father was a former member of the Klan, apart from the fact that she attempted to halt the decay brought on by racism--it does not mean that she was invincible to such forces. They affected her just as deeply as they affected everyone around her. The word nigger, though she despised it, was spoken around her on a seemingly regular basis. And it is, even today. It is heard so often that how can anyone escape its almost enveloping presence?

Like you said, the problem lies more within the American system--thought not exclusively the American system--than with the individual. Your grandmother did all in her power to stop the destructive forces of racism from clenching society even more tightly in its grasp. But racism is a powerful enemy and not one that will be defeated easily. We see it in the movies, we read it in books, we are witnesses to it on the television, and we listen to it on the radio every day. The media is without question an omnipotent entity and racism and stereotypes hang from it like a banner. Your grandmother most likely did not abstain from the pleasures of movies and music, but with these joys came some pain. She was exposed to slanders and slurs that run through everyone's mind from time to time. Eventually, though she clearly had no evil thoughts of her own, the word nigger became engrained in her mind. Perhaps not the meaning of the word nor the stigma attached to it, but the word itself. It is so taboo and so unaccepted that we easily remember it. Most people are shocked when somone speaks in such a manner, though they themselves have probably used it on a number of occasions. Because this particular remark is so despicable and at the same time spoken so loudly by the masses, it seems that nigger is almost an easy word to remember, a word that even in our old age and deterioratio will continue to haunt us. Your grandmother referred to her African American caretakers in a derogatory manner not because she meant it, but because she had been in its presence so long that it had permanently attached itself to her mind.

If such a thing can happen to a social activist like your grandmother, Mr. Wise, it can most assuredly happen to anyone else. I agree with your idea that racist terms and stereotypes are deeply established in American society; however, I disagree with your claim that most individuals are racist. When emotions flare and tension is high between two people of opposite races, things are bound to be said that neither meant to say. This does not mean that the two opponents truly think in such a manner, that their claims apply to everyone in the opposite culture. In my opinion, if the two opponents immersed themselves in the culture of their "enemy", they would probably find what they had said is completely fictitious. Their words were nothing more than a garble of anger, confusion, and frustration that manifested itself in a vicious display of verbal diarreah. I truly belive that people are good, that no one is born with the oppression of racism plaguing one's mind. It is the system, the external structure, the all-encomapssing society that brands our brains with such gross thoughts. Mr. Wise, I hear your message about racism loud and clear. It is noble and forthright and one to which we should all aspire. Sadly, the world is not a perfect place and I don't think such ideals will ever be realized. Simply for the fact that there are people of different race, ethnicity, and culture, injustice, slander, and inequality will forever linger in all people's minds. Unless we can truly come to some profound understanding in our increasingly diverse world, it seems that we are doomed to be overshadowed by cruelty.