Editor’s note: This commentary is by Gabriel Brunelle, a Burlington resident originally from West Charleston, Vermont. He has been a student, worked as an educator and a social worker, and is currently involved with the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Accessibility. This commentary came out of comments he posted in reply to “Margolis: Trump’s Election Doesn’t Mean What You Think”
[R]acism is a system of advantages based on race. Racial bigotry on its own is not America’s longest lasting and most defining social problem, racism is. Bigotry is a kind of prejudice. Anyone of any color can be prejudiced against someone of another color. A black person can be prejudiced against a white person. However, a black person can’t be racist, because black people do not benefit from the system of advantages conferred on whites. Unless someone who is white is actively doing something to dismantle that system, they are being passively racist — doing nothing while they benefit from it. A white person benefits from racism whether or not they think they do, whether or not they think about the color of their skin, and whether or not they resent the idea of it. As far as I know, no candidate used “White Privilege” as a campaign slogan. They didn’t have to; they had it anyway.
I’ll elaborate that the system of racism incorporates parts of our values-based cultural material — parts our language, policy, attitudes and beliefs — as well as their physical outgrowths — the nature of our prisons, schools, neighborhoods, media, etc. Racial prejudice and bigotry helped give rise to racism and continue to help grow and reinforce it. Racial prejudice and bigotry by whites against people of color is condoned and rewarded in the system of racism; it is validated by it; it is part of it.
Racial prejudice and bigotry helped give rise to racism and continue to help grow and reinforce it.
Racist behavior exists on a continuum– some folks are more racist than others. By the way, everything I’ve said about racism translates to sexism. Trump was the most actively racist, sexist candidate — among other odious “mosts” — because much of what he said and did serves to promote and strengthen those systems. A vote for Trump was a vote for racism, sexism and a lot of other oppressive systems, whatever else anyone thought it was a vote for. So, if you were a white male voter, a vote for Trump was a racist, sexist act. It was a form of active racism and sexism.
I know what happened on Election Day: Clinton won the popular vote and lost the election because of the Electoral College, which is also an outgrowth of racism. It was created so non-voting slave populations in Southern states would still represent proportional votes in presidential elections, thus allowing those states to meaningfully participate and shape the destiny of this country, which included the furtherance of racism. Yes — Clinton lost to the most racist candidate because of racism. That’s what I think.
