What Would Durkheim Do?

This was a week to be reminded vividly of the extent to which the U.S. is a thoroughly racist nation. As much as we want to hide the problem, to deny it with "color-blind" rhetoric, there are moments like these that reveal just how little progress we've made on the issue of racial justice, and just how much farther we must go.

The Sean Bell verdict reminds us that the American criminal justice system gives police a license to kill black men. As long as there are no consequences for those involved in police brutality, racial justice will be beyond our reach. Whites take for granted the right to security in our persons, which is why it is so difficult for many whites to understand what it means to always be a potential target for a cop's bullet. If the state can kill you with impunity, how can you consider yourself to be an equal citizen? How can whites not understand this?

The case isn't over, and it may be that some justice will be found at the federal level. Given the extent to which BushCo has polluted the federal agencies, though, I am not holding my breath.

As if we needed another reminder of our racist society: an Indiana Congressional candidate appears at a neo-Nazi celebration of Hitler's birthday. Asked whether or not he supports neo-Nazism, he replied that he "doesn't know enough about the organization" to form an opinion. No, he isn't just too stupid for the job. He was speaking beneath a portrait of Hitler about how Jews use porn to harm white women. Let's be clear: he's a racist. And he has not been chased off the political stage as a result. That speaks volumes.

As bad as it is at the moment, it will only get worse if Obama wins the Democratic nomination. The Republican slime machine will be working around the clock to infuse racism into our public sphere. That they will do so is not only an indictment of their immorality, but also a reminder of how close racism is to the surface of our public life. The old Jim Crow form of race talk may be beyond the pale in American politics, but it has been replaced by a more subtle form. It touches all aspects of our politics, but it has become a fundamental aspect of conservative ideology.