Spangler - Blog 2

 

I found the discussion of South Africa at the end of Harris’ of utmost interest, as it calls to mind just how much of a hindrance democracy has been in the United States' journey for racial justice. In South Africa, the population is composed of 80.2% Black African, 8.8% Colored, and only 8.4% White. The ending of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, was immediately followed by the election of African Presidents for every term since its end. Within this framework, in which the majority had been wronged, the act of repairing the damage that has been done is much easier when the driving force for change is through democratic voting.

However, in the United States, it is a much different story. Whites have made up the dominant majority of almost every part of the country since its founding, currently clocking in at 73% nationally, whereas Blacks have only accounted for 13%. The issue arises that our representative democracy gives a great amount of power to those who vote because politicians are supposed to be held accountable by their voters if they wish to retain office. However, as has been laid out by Harris, the cultural norms within the majority have made them ignorant of the change needed to “achieve real equality,” (1788). The goodwill of the majority is made necessary by the democratic system in place, however, as Harris points out, “by the Lockean notion of the social contract, the autonomous, free-will of the individual is central,” (1761) ‘making the excellent point that “Within this framework, the idea of the social group has no place.” (1762). The difficulty in attempting to rectify the past and present crimes of white privilege, is that you must convince the white majority that their perceived socioeconomic diversity is not a result of their individual actions, but their collective possession of whiteness as property that many are genuinely unaware has been benefiting them.

Despite the importance of free will within the Lockean ideology, I cannot help but observe the helplessness of the American people over time in simply becoming a product of their surroundings. When surrounded by racism, the people are bound to produce racism. It is easy to think that people can become better and should do so, but without proper education on the issue of race within the general populace of the country what hope is there for us to be better. Harris highlights how the mindset of racial domination of the early days of the US became an integral part of the legal system within the US, and I believe her argument for the use of distributive justice may be the most compelling I have seen. However, as she says herself, “expectations of white privilege are bound up with what is considered essential for self-realization,” (1961). To what extent can these individuals be held accountable for their perception of self-realization? Under the premises and philosophy, this country was founded upon, distributive justice, while extremely sound and fair, may not be the will of the majority. Thus if they cannot be convinced that is the correct form of justice, it is unlikely to be enshrined within the law.