A few weeks ago I read a few blog posts about how racism hurts white people (here and here). This was an intriguing idea to me, since I have always seen racism as a paradigm that exists to ensure one group’s superiority over another. However, I kept my eyes open for clues that might show how racism truly hurts white people, and not just stunting their personal growth and interpersonal relationships.
Then I realized the health care debate was a perfect example of this. Most of the rhetoric used by the conservative opposition is nonsense; socialism, Islamic indoctrination, secret illegal alien, etc. Call me over-sensitive, but when I think about the roots of these arguments, it becomes clear that these people are bothered by the fact that a black man is proposing such reforms.
Health care reform is something that would truly make a difference in every American’s life. For people to argue against something that would help them is, in my opinion, how racism hurts white people.
