I’m Not Racist, But Racial Equity Really Is A Zero Sum Game
It’s been a while since I wrote my last post. At the end of the first week of Black History Month — USA and Canada, I’ve decided to start a series of posts to help people who would call themselves “not racist”, understand what the statement after the obnoxious declaration “I’m not racist”, actually means.
But racial equity really is a zero sum game, isn’t it?
I never really understood the term “zero sum game” until I attended a presentation by Heather McGhee — social justice advocate, news media commentator, and best-selling author of “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together”. This reminded me of a story I read some years ago.
“They (small-pie people) spend their whole lives convinced there is only so much pie to go around. They sit down at the table and start to fight over who gets what, worried someone else is getting more than their share. They love boundaries and fence posts to protect their territory. Big-pie people assume there’s lots for everybody. More than enough. They’ve got an expanding pie. They trust anyone in the family to divide up the pie. No need for fences when the field is bigger than everyone could possibly need.” (brackets mine)
Gung Ho! Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
In my explanation of this story;
There are racists like white supremacists who believe all of the pie is theirs and they are not about to share any of it with anyone, no matter how big the pie is.
Then there are those “not racists” who believe the pie is too small to share. In order for others to gain a share they must give up part of their share. This is the simple definition zero sum; someone has to lose for someone else to gain. These self declared “not racists” believe this, they exclaim “how bad it must be for those people”, yet refuse to engage in sharing with the implicitly bias reason of maintaining their position. Even worse, if they can see the pie is somehow getting bigger, they consider their share in relation to the pie appears to be getting smaller and as such aim to grab a bigger share.
Finally there are those who realise there is enough pie for everyone and so will ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to get or will use their own access to the pie to ensure someone else without can access it too. These are anti-racists and their allies.
Racial equity is not a zero sum game, it is the implicit and explicit bias of those with with privilege, be it class, caste, colour (race) or culture (ethnicity), who will protect their position at all costs. Even when it comes to denying this truth.