The Event Horizon of Pessimism

A 2019 Pew Research survey on views of race in America demonstrates, once again, that white and black USAmericans see racism very differently. Majorities of both groups agree that race relations in American are "generally bad," but the gap is telling: 56% of white people versus 71% of black people. Similar gaps persist for questions about whether Trump has made those relations worse (49% white versus 73% black agreement) and whether the legacy of slavery "affects the position of black people in American society today a great amount" (58% white versus 84% black agreement).

The survey registers broader gaps between the two groups' responses on two other questions. Asked whether they agree with the statement, "America hasn't gone far enough in giving blacks equal rights with whites," only 37% of white respondents agreed, contrasted with 78% black agreement. The most disturbing statistic for me, however, concerned the statement, that it is "Not too/Not at all likely that black people will eventually have equal rights." Only 7% of the white respondents agreed with that. Half the black respondents (50%) agreed.

I confess that last one stunned me. I had no idea that (if Pew is accurate here) half of the African-American population shares a view roughly analogous to certain strands of Afro-pessimism. In such thinking, anti-blackness is so baked into the cake of white supremacist society that nothing short of a radical revolution (think along the lines of Killmonger's plan from the film Black Panther). Whiteness as currently lived out cannot--will never--allow black and brown people to have equal standing in post-slavery, white supremacist, settler colonialist society.

As a critical practice, Afro-pessimism works productively to resist sunny (and usually white-produced) narratives of puppies-and-rainbows racial reconciliation. It forces us to grapple with the fact that fighting racism cannot be a matter of defeating individual cartoon racists or magically transforming hearts and minds. It must (also) be a structural, comprehensive transformation--a much taller, more difficult order. Like most potent activist affects, however, pessimism carries some risks. It can curdle into preemptive defeatism and withdrawal from struggle. Things will never change; why even try? 

I don't know enough to tell whether the 50% figure reflects a grim realism, hopeless resignation, or something else altogether. It is, however, sobering for me to see.

And, just as I was thinking about that, I heard this story on NPR. Three college students at Ole Miss  had gone to the site of Emmett Till's murder, shot up the memorial sign, and posed proudly for a pic in front of their vandalism, brandishing their rifles and smiling. They posted the photo on Instagram, where it apparently received over two hundred "likes." The boys have been kicked out of their fraternity. The University condemns the actions (but has declined to take action against the boys).

It's a shockingly vile act, what they did. It's beyond disturbing that they got so much cheering for doing it.

I should amend: it's shocking to me. I suspect that for a lot of black people--maybe 50%--it's no great surprise. What can you expect? They're white people in white supremacist society. Hating black people is inevitable, natural for them.

And I don't know whether to feel grimly realistic or hopelessly resigned. Either way, it's an occasion for pessimism.

More tomorrow,

JF