"You know, it’s a happy measure of how far we’ve come that it doesn’t seem all that remarkable, but still it’s noteworthy, Gabby Douglas is, as it happens, the first African American to win the women’s all-around in gymnastics. The barriers have long since been down, but sometimes there can be an imaginary barrier, based on how one might see oneself."

— Bob Costas’s absurd awkward mealy-mouthed statement, on NBC following Gabby Douglas’s gold medal performance, perfectly captures white liberal racism: pretending to celebrate Black achievement while in fact insinuating that the only racism which remains in the world is “an imaginary barrier based on how one might see oneself”. In this white liberal worldview, white people have already done everything they can to liberate Black people and people of color — I mean, they granted us Civil Rights! In this white liberal worldview, there are no longer any physical, economic, institutional, societal, or structural impediments to African American success, only psychic impediments within African Americans themselves. That is typical white liberal racism. (via zuky)

(via aragingquiet)

Tags: Color Blindness colorblind racism racism race gabby douglas olympics bob costas teaching materials