Spangler Blog Post 5

 

In Chapter 1 of Dark Ghettos, Shelby outlines how racism is itself an ideology, defining an ideology as “a widely held set of associated beliefs and implicit judgments that misrepresent significant social realities and that function, through this distortion, to bring about or perpetuate unjust social relations,” (22). He argues that those who take up ideologies do so because of the considerations in favor of truth (23). As I have come to understand, ideologies can be either political or epistemic, and this distinction is noticeably lacking in Shelby’s account. Based on his definition, I believe that Shelby’s definition refers to the epistemic kind. Furthermore, I believe this definition aptly describes the role of religion in today’s society. It is a system of beliefs that actively encourages the believers to disregard counter-evidence and rationality in favor of faith, often leading to disregard of others who do not think/act the same way. Because Shelby’s definition encompasses both, I wonder, would the perfectly just society be completely free of such ideologies, or are unavoidable aspects of an egalitarian society that must be considered as rational when evaluating justice?

When we read Rawls and discussed the veil of ignorance, we often used the analogy of religion. The argument was that principles of justice should account for the fact that people have ideological beliefs that guide them in their pursuit of self-respect and a fulfilling life. The question was posed “Would you be able to accept this principle if, when the veil of ignorance is removed, you turned out to be extremely religious?” One could easily swap out “religious” for “racist” and the question carries with it a completely different connotation. Would Shelby argue that the acceptance of ideologies as worthy in consideration of justice reveals a lack of moral accountability on the part of the individual in Rawls’ account?

Furthermore, what role does religion play in the ghetto? It is known that the Black community is one of, if not the most, religious groups in society, with a particular focus on Christianity. Could it be that Christian principles that have been entrenched in Black communities as a result of their being enslaved by Christians, such as the idea that it is the meek who will inherit the earth, have affected the ability of the Black community to act rationally, and thus put them in a position to be taken advantage of?