COLOR-BLIND RACISM

How One Reporter's Denial Triggered a Discussion About Racism in 1998

Let's take a quick jog down memory lane

AI-generated image of a Black woman wearing black and white | created by author using CANVA

Denial is a shield in defiance of the truth, a way of holding onto preconceived notions no matter how many facts come flying your way. At least, that's how it feels watching White people deny the harmful impact of racist laws, policies, and beliefs throughout the history of this country. Take David Marcus, a Fox News columnist, for instance, a White man who recently claimed that Gex X, those born between 1965 and 1980, "did it, on the race thing," that in 1998, "everyone was fine," and the problem was "fixed." However, the responses from Black Gex X showed how far removed Marcus' analysis is from the truth.

As Michelle B Young suggested, the racism of that era could be seen in the cultural tension between White Gen X, who longed for black culture, "but not Black people," citing MTV, an American television channel's reluctance to play music by Black artists. Even White artists acknowledged this at the time. In a 1983 interview with MTV, David Bowie, an English singer and songwriter, asked, "Why are there practically no blacks on the network?" The early 90s saw a shift, with the inclusion of some Black artists sprinkled in like mise en place, but this in itself didn't fix the problem…