A recent discussion on a very progressive FB page that I follow has me thinking about race and racism. While I am still forming my thoughts on this one, I want to throw out an idea: instead of confronting racism directly, I think it might be more productive to focus on how we can best work for equality on race issues.

First, I’m leaving actual, open or closeted racists out of this discussion. If you are consciously biased against people because of their race, and if you ever act on that, then there is an entirely different problem going on. Racism in action is unacceptable bigotry, plain and simple. If you are internally racist (you think blacks and whites are different for instance based on their skin color) but don’t act on it/talk about it, then I also suggest this is a problem, if a somewhat lesser one. I’d like to change peoples’ minds, but I’m most concerned with actions here.

We’ve heard a lot lately about “white privilege” and societal racism — the kind that is hidden from plain site, and that many white people (i.e. non-racial minorities) don’t realize exists. There is of course the big picture issues, like the statistical fact that blacks are more likely to encounter violence from police than whites. And then there are the everyday encounters with authority. “Driving while black” is a great example of this — if you are white, how many times have you been pulled over because of your skin color? Do you realize this happens? Are you doing anything about it? And of course there is the everyday racism we sometimes practice against each other, whether in attitude or deed. Racism on things like poverty, where we blame the victim, and often associate it with race. This isn’t just in the news, but it happens in our neighborhoods, work places, schools and our everyday life.

Do most people have at least some racial biases? Yes, I think they do. Do most people consciously act on them? No, I don’t think they do. But if we don’t understand the situation that others are in, we can’t always know if we are acting on a bias. There are a lot of things in our society, created throughout our history, that separate us by race — and it’s hard to be conscious of all of them.

But the problem I’m discussing here is not racism in the big picture, but rather how we approach it. And the more I think about it (and I think about it a lot), the more I think it may be counter-productive to push people to accept their racism and to change it — and the solution may lay in another direction.

What’s the problem with confronting it? No one likes to be called a racist. Especially if they are pretty sure they are not racist, and certainly don’t WANT to be racist. It’s even hard to get people to accept things like “white privilege” — an important term in our current discussions of race. Is it a fact that people born with white skin in this country are privileged compared to people born with black skin? Yep, all things remaining equal, it is. And all things are most definitely NOT equal for many people (poverty for instance, biases based on skin color, etc.) People who self-label as “progressive” whites seem to like the term, although even in that group some reject it. Personally, my issue right now is that I don’t think the term has a lot of meaning, and even less usefulness in solving the problems of racism. I’m happy to debate this, but it’s not my primary purpose here.

I think we need to change the language that we are using when discussing racism — official and personal — in this country. And my suggestion is that we move from the negative “you are a racist” or “you need to accept your racism (white privilege),” to a more positive approach.

When discussing race, perhaps instead of personal flaws, we should focus on the solving the problem: HOW DO WE GET TO EQUALITY IN OUR SOCIETY? How do we get past the historical legacy left to us by slavery? How do we get past hundreds of years of white people prospering, while blacks are either used as a tool in that prosperity, or legally held back from enjoying it? How do we get past the fact that the American Dream, now tenuous at best, never applied to the vast majority of black people? What laws, practices and procedures are standing in the way? What attitudes? How do we need to change our government? Our education system? Our communities? These are the real questions we need to address — and I think we might have a better chance if we take the focus off of racism, and put it on systemic inequality between races.

We have a political, social, cultural and economic system that stands in the way of equality. What structures allow that, and what are we going to do to change them?

What about personal racism? I’m suggesting that playing the blame game isn’t helping us right now. Everyone is racist at some level (if nothing else through lack of knowledge). We need to admit it. Most people will be ashamed of it when they realize it. But more importantly, if you see the problem, don’t just feel badly about it — DO SOMETHING. Figure out how YOU can contribute to the solution.