"Unconscious Bias" is the New Racism. Apologies Follow

I'm sorry, I didn't know.

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

The historic mass protests that burst on to the scene after the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police have changed everything. Despite the refusal of the Grand Jury to indict Louisville Metro Police for the murder of Breonna Taylor, we must not lose sight of the fact that we have witnessed the most powerful movement against the state and institutionalized racism certainly in my lifetime. Thousands of young white workers whose future is increasingly bleak, have joined this movement led by Black working class youth under the banner of the Black Lives Movement. In addition, the Black Lives Matter banner has been raised throughout the world.

 

To understand what works and what doesn’t in society, we only have to look at the case of Colin Kaepernick, the former Black American football player who was demonized in the media and sidelined by the league’s team owners for "taking a knee" during the national anthem before the start of a game; a mild protest against the killing of Black people by the cops. For five years they held this position and that Kaepernick was wrong, and then magically, with the Black Lives Matter protests, these billionaires have publicly admitted they were wrong and Kaepernick was right.

 

There’s a lesson here. Mass direct action works. It was mass direct action that built the unions and mass direct action and political struggle, not lawyers, liberal politicians or the so- called Supreme Court that can change the world.

The fear that this class unity and militant protest will spread has made the US ruling class very uneasy. Sensitivity is the game now to try and keep the lid on things and get back to normal. Apologies for racial insensitivity or hurting people’s feeling are a dime a dozen.

The latest public apology is from the CEO of Wells Fargo Charlie Scharf who sent out a letter to his employees that has brought accusations of racism.

That the white racist ruling class in this country is racist is a given. Racism is an institutional aspect of US society and capitalist society in general, it is built in to it. But it’s important to see through the phony concessions to the power of this movement.

What got the Wells Fargo CEO in to hot water was when he wrote the following about looking for talent:
“The unfortunate reality is that there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from with this specific experience.”

So what’s racist about that sentence? In fact, it’s probably an accurate statement. But why is there a “limited pool of Black Talent” this is the question.

If he had preceded it with, “Due to the institutionalized racism in our society and the exclusion of people of color from this field for centuries, it’s hard to find qualified people.”, he would have been in the clear

But he can’t say that because the system, what we know as capitalism, cannot be at fault. Capitalism is a great system and the United States is a “GREAT” country and as the Predator in Chief says, not a racist country. We are not only a great country, we are the greatest country.

So like all the others there’s an out. He atones for his sin, “I apologize for making an insensitive comment reflecting my own unconscious bias.”

 

So, he’s not responsible for anything, he was speaking unconsciously. He’s just confessed, he’s OK and the system is sound. This apology will hopefully appease the many people of color on the lower rungs of the corporation. “There are many talented diverse individuals working at Wells Fargo and throughout the financial services industry…” he adds and that he, “….never meant to imply otherwise.”

 

The reality is that institutionalized racial exclusion in US society is why the pool we are talking about is relatively small and he has done nothing to change that. He has benefited from it and him and others like him perpetuate it. He’s a major part of the problem and by claiming he was unconscious of it all he's a liar too. He knows why the pool is small and always has known. Like all of them, he chooses to do nothing about it and feather his own nest.

 

Despite the pool being small due to racist practices, it’s quite likely there is a person of color that could fit the requirements.  But, it’s a bit of a bother, it’s much easier to grab the white guy.

 

The slip was made, a slip that could have been avoided if he had told the truth, but he can’t. So he confesses explaining that it was not even a conscious mistake, it was an unconscious one like bumping in to the lamp when sleepwalking.

 

The fact that a cop is even fired, a racist restaurant employee terminated, a person let go for making racist comments outside of the workplace, this is the result of the Black Lives Matter movement and protests since Rodney King, Oscar Grant and, in my opinion, Ferguson was a major event. Breonna Taylor George Floyd and of course Trayvon Martin, there are just too many to name here. A friend said to me today, as far as the Black population is concerned, their cup is running over, it is overflowing.

 

The shooting of cops is not productive but completely understandable when we look at the big picture, I have stated before, it a credit to the patience of Black folks that shooting cops has not been more frequent as cops are shooting them.  But the movement is the key, a growing, united movement that must take a national character and draw in to it all those fighting against the savagery of the market and for social and economic justice.

 

Danger lurks around every corner. Wells Fargo will be looking for “diverse” candidates for “key roles with compensation north of $100,000” says Scharf. Apple, Alphabet, Rockefeller, Lowe’s, money managing companies and many others are throwing cash at Black businesses and Black colleges and institutions in order to increase the social weight of the Black Middle class that can act as a buffer zone to hold back the revolutionary potential of the Black workers and undermine the present movement stopping it from spreading.

 

In the period ahead we will hear lots of “unconscious bias” apologies from racists in powerful positions and things can continue as normal. People like the CEO’s of banks who have perpetuated the racism in society that the Black population are confronting with a vengeance.

 

If you feel you might slip off the rails with all the apologies and all, let Malcolm X get you back on there with his profound statement that, “You can’t have capitalism without racism.”