The Five Rules of Racial Standing come from a chapter in Derrick Bell’s “Faces At The Bottom Of The Well: The Permanence Of Racism” (1993). They are the rules whites in America use to determine how seriously to take someone’s statements.
Bell, as a law professor, was thinking mainly of court cases, but the rules apply just as well to talk shows, books, blogs, the news and even at work – anywhere whites stand in judgement.
The five rules in my own words (a link to Bell’s full text follows):
- Black people: Whatever bad thing blacks say about racism and whatever good thing they say about each other can be discounted: most blacks are incapable of being fair-minded about such things.
- White people: What whites say about racism is to be taken way more seriously than what blacks say. Even when whites are merely repeating what blacks say. Because white opinion is assumed to be unaffected by racism. Because the white viewpoint is what everything else is being measured against. Therefore whites always come out seeming the most fair-minded and even-handed. With one exception:
- Uncle Toms: They have not only proved they are fair-minded (they agree with whites) and independent of race loyalty (they criticize other blacks) but because they are black they clearly understand other blacks better than whites do.
- The Farrakhans: When a black person does or says something that whites consider “outrageous”, other blacks are expected to openly condemn him. Those that do not are assumed to side with him and may face unpleasant consequences. Note that whites are not expected to condemn the “outrageous” statements or actions of other whites. This is a special rule for blacks only.
- A blessing and a curse: Knowing these rules will allow you to understand how things will unfold but not how to stop them.
Examples:
- Black jurors and judges tend to be kept off of cases where racism plays a big part. See #1.
- It is very hard for a black person to win a job discrimination suit without white witnesses. See #2.
- Tim Wise: See #2.
- Clarence Thomas: Even though he had little experience as a judge, because he spoke out against affirmative action and civil rights as a black person he was assumed to have good judgement, fit for the Supreme Court. See #3.
- Alice Walker: She became famous among whites with “The Color Purple” (1982) where she painted black men in a bad light (Almost no bad white people in her book). See #3.
- Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele and other Rented Negroes: See #3.
- The “no-snitch” rule: If you are black, the bad you say about other blacks will be remembered by whites far more than the good. But that means most blacks are unwilling to openly criticize each other in front of whites, making it seem to whites that most blacks are blinded by race loyalty. See #1 and #3.
- Obama was expected to publicly condemn his own pastor because some white people did not like sound bites from his sermons. See #4.
- The black proxy: Whites like to use blacks to bring down other blacks. See #4.
Thanks to Matari for bringing this up in the comments.
See also:
- Derrick Bell: The Five Rules of Racial Standing
- The Space Traders – from the same book
- Tim Wise
- Rented Negroes
Good post!
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Good work!
I like how you personified the examples you used in demonstrating how the rules work.
I’m wondering what other rules we can come up with to possibly add to these five?
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“The Farrakhans: When a black person does or says something that whites consider “outrageous”, other blacks are expected to openly condemn him. Those that do not are assumed to side with him and may face unpleasant consequences. Note that whites are not expected to condemn the “outrageous” statements or actions of other whites. This is a special rule for blacks only.”
The last sentence above might also read: This is a special rule for “non-whites” only. I’ve observed this rule at work as applied to PoC in general. It’s also a rule that’s used between different groups of color, like Blacks and Asians, though perhaps not as stringently as when whites are the offended party.
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Excellent post.
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Anything that is trendy or considered ‘in’ by young black people, ‘you’ as a black representative are expected/required to explain, or may be assumed as partaking of it, no matter your age or class status.
First day on a new job in a relatively professional environment, I learn that each day someone gets to pick a radio station, or play music of their choice. I was informed that I could not play any ‘of that rap’. Nevermind that my teenage/twenties, are long behind me,.
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@ Oyan
“Anything that is trendy or considered ‘in’ by young black people, ‘you’ as a black representative are expected/required to explain, or may be assumed as partaking of it, no matter your age or class status.”
Another one is that blacks with dread-locks or Caribbean accents are expected to know where to find weed.
Its a wonder we all don’t sell the stuff since we now know that white men with criminal records have a better chance at employment than those of us who have never been incarcerated or in the system. {{{ sarcasm off! }}}
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I don’t want to get too political, but…
The last point in the post reminds me of Herman Cain’s subtle, racially-charged rhetoric. The more outrageous and condemning his comments are, the higher he soars in the polls. (Although I doubt this will be a the case now).
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I have locks and people assume that I am a Rastafarian or smoke spliffs. My only decadent sin as far as ingesting anything is Belgian chocolate, preferrably ganoche 60%(I love the raspberry and key lime truffles!). The funny thing is, I am allergic to alcohol(envision the excorcist projectile vomitting scene). And I have never been interested in trying. or have smoked illegal substances(smells like manure). I am loony enough, no need for external stimulants to alter my already altered mood!
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oh, ye gawds…I’m dealing with shit at work right now, and #2 is heavily in play. The company I work for has no HR person on staff, but even if we did I fear that I’d be in the same situation with nowhere to turn.
It’s frustrating to be labeled as the ‘problem child’ for daring to have ONE off day at work, over 2 years ago…and that was because a close friend had passed away and I didn’t find out until a week afterwards. Grieving for a friend isn’t allowed for me, but the white women in my office have every excuse allowed for their many ‘bad days’: quitting smoking, going through menopause, having psychosomatic skin issues, being pregnant, having post-partum issues, beginning a relationship, breaking up with someone, getting married, getting divorced, having a kid in (K-12/college) school, gaining weight, losing weight, etc., ad nauseum, ad infinitum…
Must be nice to have people willing to overlook your collective ugliness – now, THAT’S privilege!
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Like you really know what people think. You are blinded by your own narrow view that you can not conceive of anything else -kind of sad.
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@sepultura13
^^^^^^^^This.
I once was so anxious about leaving for sick leave/etc. at a previous job,that when I finally left the company, I had, I think 2500 to 3000.00 dollars in sick leave hours.
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@ Oyan:
Yep – I have many hours of sick leave AND vacation time accrued. Sad thing is, if I got laid off tomorrow only the vacation time would be added to any work hours I have…sick time is lost, no matter what.
I belive that I should start taking a LOT of sick days off – use those days to look for a better job, or just take them off randomly and get my book published! I am so sick of working for people and putting up with their crap…I’m REALLY hating working for psychotic freaks, even if the economy is bad!
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And here I am thinking I was the only one who thought that about Alice Walker and The Color Purple. I also think Oprah Winfrey is/ was so popular amongst Whites because she used her show to highlight Black dysfunction.
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I truly believe “whiteness” to be a collectively-driven mental and social disease that’s worthy of being included in the DSM-IV. It’s a social phenomenom where people can indulge in their supposed inherent goodness by associating themselves with color traits that were historically used in European society to represent purity and cleanness. Since they’re inherently good, it’s extremely hard for them to accept how they are subconsciously capable of committing evil against others. When you have outward displays of evil, it’s segmented so that such displays can’t hurt the collectively shared illusion of white goodness.
Of course, that leads these people to associate dark-skinned Americans, the “blacks,” as you will, with as many negative traits as one could come up with. Because the color black equals evil, death, dirtyness, wrongness, etc., and they happen to be of a dark hue. Thanks to this overly simplified yet satisfying reasoning, dark-skinned Americans are seen as naturally bad, no matter what they do or how they live. Therefore, when they do good things, such events are treated as an exception rather than a rule, because they’re naturally bad and whites are naturally good.
Therefore, it’s soothing to those indulging in “whiteness” to see “good blacks” calling their brethren bad or evil, because it reaffirms and reinforces the entire concept of whiteness. I doesn’t matter if “good blacks” are calling other “blacks” bad for legitimate reasons or for the most far-fetched and silliest of them, as long as those blacks are being chastised by other blacks, “whiteness” is confirmed and reaffirmed.
When dark-skinned Americans say things that discomfort “good whites” (by attempting to shatter the social illusion that “whiteness” represents), whites become highly defensive. Why? Because it’s a direct attack on their beliefs of inherent goodness. The “Farrakhans” are, in effect, calling whites bad and evil, and whites are reacting by saying “no, I’m inherently good. I can’t be evil. You’re evil because that’s just what you people are.” It’s interesting to see these whites taking personal an attack on their greater being. They just can’t take being told they’re responsible for certain evils by a people they see as inherently evil itself. Hence the genesis of the whole “black racism” thing. Or the constant refrain of “fix your own people’s problems before focusing on ours.”
On the other hand, dark-skinned Americans are always considered bad, dirty and evil as a collective group that most whites cannot expend genuine thought in distinguishing into individual components. It’s easy to attack the “black” group while praising individual “blacks,” as though the group was inherently incapable of being good. News reports of “blacks” being their naturally evil selves are seen as unbiased (because they are true, as far as good whites are concerned), while interest stories and news reports that put “blacks” in a positive light are seen as inherently biased (because it runs counter to the ideals of “whiteness”).
Given America’s tendency to see things in a hard GOOD/BAD dictonomy, on top of the centuries-long propaganda against dark-skinned Americans for the sole purpose of cementing their status as chattel, it’s little wonder you have those 5 rules. Those rules work to reaffirm white “goodness” and condemn “blackness.” It’s a neverending loop of recordings telling whites they’re naturally good and blameless for any ills or evils, done so to keep them from fully assuming collective responsibilities of their fellow brothers and sisters and those of their forefathers. They want to forget those nasty things. They want to be collectively pure, clean and blameless. Nothing is their fault, as others must have had something to do with it.
The only way I can see to prevent these rules from unfolding is to not be in places where they can unfold in the first place. Personally speaking, that means disassociating oneself from whites and white society. Easier said than done.
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I don’t agree with “The Color Purple” reference; but since all black people are men, I can see why her book disturbed so many black men. The problem with indentifying and fighting racism is that only men seem to be victims. Black women are pretty much invisible (exept when someone needs a whipping board). There were “bad” white people in Walker’s book. The assumption was that in the 1930s South, they all pretty much were, especially the ones who beat and jailed Sophia for not knowing her place.
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Abagond:
Being black and educated is not for the faint of heart. We have to deal with bs from both sides. If black people call out whites, they have to call out other blacks as well. Political ideology is not a major factor in that regard. Being honest about the issue is what matters. Black conservatives who downplay race when they know it matters are just as bad as black liberals who use race as a crutch. Neither party is being upfront with black people. As a general rule, black folk should never put political ideology, religion, and nationalism above their ancestry. That mindset doesn’t benefit black people. I have conservative beliefs, but, I would never put my blackness second in line to anyone or anything. Some sistas and brothas on my side have yet to understand that about themselves. We have to be willing to go against the grain when necessary, despite the objections of this or that group. Fearlessness is what we need more than anything. Whites need to get the coward crap out of their pysche, black people are dealing with a lot of s**t right now that was caused in large part by slavery, Denial is not a valid excuse anymore going forward!!!
Tyrone
Black Eros Movement
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in your post when I read Clarence Thomas, it says see #3 Uncle Tom, I burst out laughing!!!! Excellent Post.
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@Nestafan2, I strongly agree.
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@Tyrone
“As a general rule, black folk should never put political ideology, religion, and nationalism above their ancestry. That mindset doesn’t benefit black people.”
Preaching to the choir brotha, preaching to the choir…
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The current controversy is that Obama gave Derrick Bell a big ol’ bear hug back when Obama was in college. Rule #4?
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@sepultura13: I don’t doubt that racism is involved, but parts of what you said resonate with me and…well…look at my avatar.
I left a job a few months ago before I could be laid off. I’d worked there for 11 years, and I was such a chump. When there was work to be done, I’d be at my desk working away. For many years, when there wasn’t work rolling in, I’d keep myself busy anyway. I can honestly say that I took an honest-to-God vacation twice. Oh, I managed to squeeze out the allotted days off; it was all budgeted as “personal time” and in four-hour increments, so if I went to the doctor on a Friday afternoon, and I didn’t plan on coming in late that night or on Saturday, there went four hours of “personal time”. Ditto if I was sick enough that I couldn’t drive to work without having to stop repeatedly to…um…relieve myself of bodily emanations.
The thing is, for several years the time off was given grudgingly. Raises? I had three; one after my probation period, one when I was made full-time, and one when one of my coworkers complained about how we had been promised one but never given one.
But oy vey, the some of the people there. Especially the ones who had been housewives and were re-entering the workplace. Everything you said: absolutely true. I even knew of cases where people would take the day off because their brother’s cousin’s ex-wife needed someone to drive them to the “pain clinic”. A whole day off for someone you barely know? Really? Other times, flighty people who “had” to get their hair done, “had” to get an early start on the weekend, “had” to go sign papers on a new car ASAP, and so on. These people tended to have a limited skillset yet in a higher income bracket than me.
But it was also true when I was in college and working retail. I’d get called in, have people beg me to come in to cover for someone. I’d get reamed for not getting there as fast as they’d like, get reamed for not knowing what that person was supposed to be doing, and so on. Then I’d find out they couldn’t be at work because they’d decided to go on a drinking binge and couldn’t be bothered to show up for work. Yay.
And at this one 11-year job, the most troublesome employee was one out of only two black people I worked with the entire time. She had started out polite and cordial, yet once she got past her probation period, she probably could have murdered someone and gotten a raise for it. The reason she got away with it, and the reason they almost never hired black people, was for the same reason: they were scared shitless that they would be sued, and this one knew it. The second person was professional, courteous…yet incompetent, and once again they were too frightened to even write her up. All they had to do is follow procedure, and they couldn’t even do that.
Back to what I was originally getting at: I’ve since found out from people I’ve worked for, and more than one person has said this, is that people like me tend to be too meek to get angry, and tend to be reliable enough that they get leaned on to do the work. Ask around; there’s a surprisingly low number of people doing all the work. If workforces were to trim down all the flighty idiots, almost no one would be working.
I guess my question is to what extent is it racism, and to what extent is it just that you’re a hard worker, and do so without complaint to an extent where your superiors just don’t realize you’re an under-appreciated asset?
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