Is Everyone Really Equal Sparknotes

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines racism as “racial prejudice or discrimination”, but that is simply an umbrella term that the authors of Is Everyone Really Equal? would say is a part of America and Canada’s problem with the unequal distribution of power among the races. Whether Americans and Canadians like to admit it or not, racism is a bigger part of their culture than most recognize and it has affected various aspects of daily life for both Whites and people of Color (POCs) for centuries and it will continue to do so unless, as a society we better understand what racism really is and how nearly everyone is enabling it, even people of Color themselves. In the chapter “Racism” from Is Everyone Really Equal?, the authors argue that
This division is incorrect because nearly everyone holds racial biases and saying that they do not enforces the idea that racism is merely circumstantial and only done by “bad” people. This binary may also provoke the mindset of “I am not a racist, therefore it doesn’t concern me and there’s nothing else I can/need to do”. Some POCs may deny racism as well, because the binary suggests that they can be just as racist as Whites. This false binary leads to the problem of one denying the effect that race has on society and what advantages/ disadvantages it provides for certain racial groups. This false division contributes to why racism is still extremely prevalent today and leads to many people being “colorblind”, meaning “pretending that we don’t notice race will end (or has already ended) racism”. This makes it difficult for individuals to address their internalized racist thoughts and beliefs that we’ve internalized since early childhood. While this concept had good intentions, they do not play out in reality. Instead it enables an individual to deny the reality of racism, and therefore perpetuates it (Page