Thread by @tgarchibald

New blog post: “Evidence of Systemic Racism (Part II), or, How to Talk with Your Systemic Racism Denier” tgarchibald.wordpress.com/2020/07/12/evi… A thread with some highlights:

This is a clarion call for those who would deny the existence of systemic racism to either refute the evidence with other evidence, or change their minds. I hope this can save you, dear reader, some time, effort, and headaches, any time you encounter a racism denier.

To date I have likely not convinced any systemic racism deniers that systemic racism exists; due to belief preservation, it is really hard to do. But if some white people learn a bit from this, and some BIPOC colleagues can have a day off from explaining these basic facts, good.

Also, if you are Black or are a person of color, I am sorry that this person in your life is gaslighting you and effacing your trauma, lived experience, and survival strategies on which you rely literally every day. It is an understatement to say it this way, but that just sucks.

In #eval, Doug Fraser, Bill Fear, and CDC’s Tom Chapel, have the privilege to ‘opt out’ of or ‘give up’ on focusing on the issue of systemic racism. Black people, indigenous people, and people of color do not have that option. I am busy, but this work is an ethical imperative.

Some themes: Shared premises; Precision of language; Acknowledgement of progress; The systemic racism deniers’ premises why it is not systemic racism causing bad outcomes; Counterpoints to the racism deniers’ premises; & Contemporary peer-reviewed evidence of systemic racism.

Highlights of this contemporary evidence: 1st quotes from GOP architects of ‘the war on drugs’ and ‘law and order’ such as Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman and Reagan campaign strategist Lee Atwater who explicitly state their racist goals. I learned about these from @ava.

2nd links to peer-reviewed studies of systemic racism in: mortgage lending, school funding, hiring discrimination, voter suppression, police interactions & incarceration rates, & racial/ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related deaths. HT @povertyscholar for police interaction info

Why do I care so much about trying to help my fellow white people see that systemic racism exists? It is because I do not understand how someone can be (for example) a Christian or (for example) a scholar/educator, and deny it, without them causing harm in both of those domains.

Academics denying systemic racism exists, should the peer-reviewed studies cited be retracted because they lack accuracy or validity? Or do you reject outright the notion of peer-reviewed social science as a legitimate form of knowledge production? If so, why are you in academia?

(Same goes for: why are you in #eval). It is analogous to studying botany while denying evolution, or studying geography or geology as a member of the flat-earth society. If that’s you, then I don’t know what to say. (fin)