Embed Notice

[Alan] Freeman blamed the tendency of judges to focus on the perspective of the perpetrator of racial discrimination—what did he intend, what did he do—rather than on the perspective of the victim—in what ways do legal arrangements impede his freedom. For Freeman, the result was to normalize the “conditions” of racial inequality and reinforce the notion that most Americans were innocent of participating in racial injustice—the problem lay with a small group of prejudiced individuals acting with discriminatory intent.
-- Crenshaw et al, 1995

Oh, we think it's not racism if it's not done "with intent"? And so we concern ourselves almost entirely with examining the character of the person perpetrating the racism, rather than centering the people who were harmed by it and asking ourselves what reparation they are due?

Now what recent event does that bring to mind? 🤔