THE FALLACIES OF RACISM

With the number of active hate groups that reside in the United States, sociologists have identified the five main fallacies these groups use to justify their perspective on racism.

INDIVIDUALISTIC FALLACY

The individualistic fallacy is used widely across the U.S. which is the belief that the action and behavior of racial prejudice and discrimination results from strictly racist individuals (Desmond and Emirbayer 2009). There are many situations that challenge this idea of the individualistic fallacy, however, the aspect of the NY police department that uses the illegal quota system heavily based on racial profiling defies this fallacy because of the collective mindset developed over time to stop 14-21 year old Black and Latino young men.

There is a contemporary controversy between “good” and “bad” cops in law enforcement, however, the evidence present in our history and literature proves otherwise. The reason there is not an actual distinction between “good” and “bad” cops is because regardless of the personal social and racial beliefs of that officer, they are given the responsibility of meeting their monthly quotas and having that performance monitored by the system. While performance monitoring sounds like an effective aspect of police evaluations, in reality it is a weapon of abuse (Crime and Punishment 2018). The intentions of certain cops are in a positive light, however it is the fact that regardless of the individual, they are wearing that badge which represents a collective group that revolves around the unconscious racial bias to meet quota by arresting Blacks and Latinos who predominantly represent various communities in New York.

LEGALISTIC FALLACY

Another fallacy that heavily operates in the U.S. today is the legalistic fallacy which argues that since racist laws do not exist anymore, contemporary racism today truly cannot exist (Desmond and Emirbayer 2009). The issue with this fallacy is the fact that despite the absence of explicit racial laws present in our society today, the racial laws that forced segregation in the past century have left our society severely damaged in terms of racial equality. In Crime and Punishment (2018), a group of twelve officers, also known as the NYPD 12, attempted to file a lawsuit against the NYPD to sue them for the illegal quota system that the department claims does not exist anymore. The reason the legalistic fallacy fails in this situation is because despite all evidence pointing towards the illegal quota system, the judge said based on how the quota law was written, complaints can only be made through the department which resulted in the dismissal of the case (Crime and Punishment 2018). This is a clear representation that despite the absence of explicit racist laws, the police has a shield of protection which allows them to continue racial profiling to meet their quota. Even when faced with individuals of the force who are partaking in legal actions against the system, the written law states a lawsuit against the force in regard to this system is illegal. While many argue this law is implemented to protect the force, I argue that this law is embedded in racial ideologies that prevent minority communities from exposing the system and ultimately rising in power.

TOKENISTIC FALLACY

The tokenistic fallacy argues that since black people are in high ranked positions, the idea of racial obstacles does not exist in our modern day society (Crime and Punishment 2018). The personal experience of Officer Edwin Raymond challenges this fallacy because as a black NYPD officer with one of the highest rankings on the police exams, he was denied a promotion for an extensive period of time. According to Crime and Punishment (2018), Officer Raymond scored 8th out of 6,000 applicants on a sergeants exam, but for a consecutive two years was denied a promotion. Eventually, after the public became aware of this rejection of promotion due to the publicity of the NYPD 12, Raymond was promoted. Officer Raymond argues that even though he was promoted, the underlying purpose was because if he was rejected for the third year in a row, the department would have been exposed of its corruption since there was no answer that lies behind the rejection of his promotion following a score that was in the 95th percentile of all applicants (Crime and Punishment 2018). Despite his promotion, the force later attempted to take Officer Raymond down by leaking false information that he let a black man get away with a crime. The police force obtains numerous high-ranking men in very high positions of power who have the ability to plant evidence and frame individuals that attempt to expose the unjust practices they exercise in the force. As stated by Desmond and Emirbayer (2009), pointing to Oprah’s millions as evidence for economic equality ignores the millions of black people living in poverty. In this case, pointing to Officer Raymond’s promotion as evidence for occupational success ignores the black people that do not receive callbacks from job interviews when including their racial or ethnic information.

AHISTORICAL FALLACY

The historical fallacy claims that since the majority of American history did not entail the unequal basic rights to black people, it should not be a problem today (Desmond and Emirbayer 2009). The evidence that justifies this claim simply does not exist because if it did, we would be ignoring the history which involved the enslavement, exploitation, decolonization and genocide of non-white people in America. To further challenge this fallacy, regardless of the time period, black people have been getting murdered by the police since the initial foundation of the police force. Dating back to the 1800s, the police was implemented to control and surveillance black people in America (NPR 2020). Today, the police is still implemented to control and surveillance black people in America; however this time, it is not written in the law, it is implied. The murder of black people by the force is not something new. In 2014, Eric Garner, a black man who was being detained by the police and not resisting, was choked and murdered by a police officer (Crime and Punishment). In 2020, George Floyd, a black man who was being detained by the police and not resisting, was choked and murdered by a police officer. History is repeating itself. “I can’t breathe” chants in 2020 echoes the chants following Eric Garner’s death in 2014, but louder. Therefore, the fallacy that claims paltriness towards the historical context of the unequal rights of non-whites in America is false because black casualties resulting from the police occurred during the enslavement of African Americans, following their emancipation, the Great Migration and still occurs today.

FIXED FALLACY

The fixed fallacy argues that racism is fixed as it is constant across time and space which contributes to the idea that racism is either getting better or worse (Desmond and Emirbayer 2009). The issue with this fallacy is that we cannot depict whether or not racism is getting better or worse if the actions of the police have not exactly changed over the course of the past century. As stated by Desmond and Emirbayer (2009), you cannot quantify racism. To better understand this statement, if we look to the opposite side of the spectrum, quantifying racism is similar to quantifying equality. While you can collect statistical data and research programs that implement equality throughout institutions that exist in the U.S., you cannot come up with a numerical measure to compare its evolution throughout history. Despite the exchange of written segregation laws for contemporary laws, the necessity to meet quota has not changed. In Crime and Punishment (2018), Officer Raymond explains that “the police force is generating billions off the backs of poor people every day.” Cops have been targeting minority communities for centuries. In one juvenile case, Pedro Hernandez was falsely convicted and sentenced to face up to fifteen years in prison, but with the help of investigator Manuel Gomez, the defense was able to prove that Hernandez was falsely convicted so he could continue his college career following the trial (Crime and Punishment 2018). Individuals who believe in the fixed fallacy might argue that racism is getting better since investigators are able to expose the system and receive justice for falsely convicted juveniles, but what would have happened to Hernandez if his case was never investigated? Would he have been placed behind bars for an act he did not commit and have his innocence swept under the rug like the thousands of other young black men who have been falsely convicted as well? This is why we cannot quantify racism, but rather fight against it.

References

Desmond, Matthew and Emirbayer, Mustafa. 2009. “What Is Racial Domination?”Du Bois Review. Social Science Research on Race 6, 335–55.

Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2018. “Race and Racisms: A Critical Approach.” Oxford University Press.

Maing, Stephen. 2018. “Crime and Punishment.” Hulu Documentary.

NPR. 2020. “American Policing.” Throughline.