Boston Globe’s The Emancipator: Prof. Copeland Explains How to Identify & Combat Racism Denial
Discussing racism with a racism denier can feel impossible without the right tools. Whether used as a political strategy or a coping mechanism, racism denial is used to minimize the experience of people of color and maintain a white supremacist society. In an op-ed for The Boston Globe’s Emancipator, BU School of Social Work Prof. Phillipe Copeland discussed the various ways that racism deniers operate so antiracists can better recognize and address their arguments.
Excerpt from “The Art of The Denial: How Racism Deniers Obscure the Reality of Racism, Minimizing Its Significance” by Phillipe Copeland:
Elon Musk posted a video mocking some ‘Stay Woke’ T-shirts he found in a closet at Twitter headquarters.
He also posted that the U.S. Dept. of Justice under Barack Obama found that Michael Brown, the teen whose killing sparked the Ferguson protests, did not have his hands up. The implication is Black Lives Matter is based on a fiction and lacks credibility. This only makes sense if you choose to ignore the rest of what justice officials found: Ferguson, Missouri, residents were victims of racist policing.
This fact does not concern Musk and other people though, because they are engaged in ‘racism denial.’
Racism denial is a political strategy. Its proponents know they benefit from racism and want to perpetuate it. They attempt to convince people racism is no longer an issue or is not a big enough one to require attention.
Racism denial is a coping tool. The contradiction of living in a society that preaches equality, freedom, and democracy but often practices the opposite, generates psychic distress, triggering denial. Whether reflecting strategy or psychology, racism denial comes in many forms.”