Krasemann - Blog Post 5

 

Tommie Shelby’s first few chapters in Dark Ghettos paint a bleak picture of national progress on desegregation. In a way, I now perceive the situation of overcoming racial inequality as a little hopeless, which is discouraging. However, the reading also provides clarity.

 

A significant takeaway for me was the topic of forcing desegregation and rapidly attempting to compensate for centuries of wrongdoing. Very few past discussions about race in America that I have attended addressed the fact that black people may feel much safer in their own disadvantaged bubble than in a desegregated society filled with blatant racism from neighbors and friends. In a way, black people may feel safer in their bubble, despite the fact that they are living well below the poverty line and are dealing with severe crime nearly every day. To best address the issue of institutionalized racism, society must first acknowledge that the process will take time and that nothing can be forced upon disadvantaged citizens.

 

One question that I am curious to explore further is that of self-segregation. I believe that self-segregation is not a universal behavior in segregated groups. Although there is a divide centered on distrust due to past actions, how can we explain and analyze that some individuals are actively seeking to bridge the racial segregation gap? Will the matter of desegregation, both economic and racial, rely on following the leads of others? Will the trust in our nation’s beliefs and foundations gradually reappear, or is the issue irremediable?

 

One point that I kept in the back of my head while reading the first few chapters of the book pertained to the recent protests and uprising on the basis of racial equality. Where do the individuals at the forefront of the protests fall in the picture that Shelby has laid out for us? Are they looking to bridge the racial gap, promote economic equality, or simply educate the nation about its own horrific history? The book is very recent, but I am curious to understand how Shelby would react to the past year of social justice movements.

 

The quote that most strongly resonated with me was from the introduction, where Shelby states “status quo bias invites us to see dysfunction where perhaps lies resistance to injustice” (3). How can this resistance foster eventual progress, and how would the most avid protesters react to this assessment?