On September 16th, Dr. Waverly Duck gave a lecture on the sociology of tacit racism as part of an ongoing lecture series at the Center for Research on People of Color.

On Thursday, the Center for Research on People of Color invited Waverly Duck, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, to speak as part of its ongoing Anti-Racism Speaker Series. His lecture, entitled “A Nation Divided: The High Cost of Tacit Racism in Everyday Life,” was streamed on Zoom. 

After an introduction by Jacquelyn Taylor, the executive director of CRPC, Dr. Duck introduced himself and began by speaking about his recent book, Tacit Racism, written in collaboration with Anne Warfield Rawls. He described the book as an interrogation of “troubled interactions,” or interactions in which communication between parties breaks down, where the stakes are high—sometimes literally life or death. Examples of such troubled interactions include confrontations between police officers and civilians and conversations in medical settings where doctors don’t take patients’ accounts of their pain seriously. Dr. Duck explained that his book represents an effort to provide a way to systematically address and and dismantle the dynamics that give rise to troubled interactions.

In the lecture, Dr. Duck explained that he sought to provide a “sociological and cultural understanding” of the meaning of race. He argued that race is not a genetic or biological fact, but rather a social convention, what sociologists term a “social fact”. To illustrate this point, he displayed a slide showing his own DNA test results, demonstrating that he’s 82% Sub-Saharan African, 16% European, and 1.4% East Asian and Native American. However, he explained, these actual numbers are irrelevant; his racial identity is Black American, which is how he would be perceived and, accordingly, treated. 

Dr. Duck emphasized that the categories of Blackness and whiteness that are recognized in America have changed over time and are not historically fixed. “Whiteness” was invented in an American colonial context to divide English settlers from enslaved Africans, who were categorized as “Black.” However, this binary has been instituted in American culture through laws which litigate who has the right to vote, who has the right to own property, and who is recognized as a citizen of the country. As such, these racial categories have a significant impact on Americans—they are social facts, even though they are constructs. 

Americans learn the significance of racial categorizations through processes of socialization that reward and sanction certain types of behaviors, and are reflected in the country’s history of legal practices surrounding race. Dr. Duck explained how Jim Crow segregation became entrenched after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, reflecting yet another shift in the long process of American racial formation. 

Next, he provided a glossary of various terms and concepts that shape the modern conversation around race – implicit bias, white supremacy, and critical race theory. Dr. Duck emphasized the importance of considering racism as a systemic issue rather than a personal one; he played a clip of AG Merrick Garland explaining to Senator Kennedy from Louisiana that the concept of implicit bias does not mean that everyone is “a racist,” but rather that we all have internalized unconscious attitudes about race that influence our behavior and perceptions. 

Explaining “tacit racism,” the subject of his book with Rawls, Duck described the ways in which systemic racism is encoded in the structures of daily life, such that whether or not implicit bias is present, participation in social interactions will produce racist outcomes. As an example of a once-encoded phenomenon of cultural racism, Duck referred to the saying “free, white, and 21”, which used to be a popular way for someone to express an attitude of “I can do whatever I want.” He played a montage of clips from old movies from the ‘30s and ‘40s where various (white) characters casually referred to themselves as “free, white, and 21”. The fact that this saying has died out to the point where many people may not know that it was ever a quite popular expression illustrates the ways in which cultural attitudes towards race, whiteness, and Blackness can change. 

Dr. Duck also introduced the concept of “fractured reflections” of self-identity as a consequence of encountering racism. For example, high-status Black people often have their authority undermined or challenged; as such, it may be hard for them to maintain a consistent “reflection” of their own abilities, status, or authority. 

A key concept introduced during the lecture was that of “submissive civility” as a coping mechanism to deal with racist confrontations. This follows from W. E. B. DuBois’ idea of “the submissive man,” someone who adopts an attitude of temporary compliance in order to navigate difficult racial situations. Dr. Duck gave the example of Diamond Reynolds, the partner of Philando Castile, who died during an interaction with police. Duck pointed out the ways in which Reynolds demonstrated extraordinary submissive civility by complying with the police while recording the interaction and taking care of her child. While apparently “submitting” through over-compliance, she was nevertheless performing the liberatory act of recording the interaction. 

So how can we address these systemic issues of racism and subvert the need for acts of submissive civility? Here, the talk shifted to Duck’s proposals for sociological solutions. For one, he argued, we need national conversation and communication about racism in order to minimize incidences of deadly communication breakdown. White people need to develop their own “double consciousness” about race. DuBois’ theory of double consciousness suggested that Black people need to simultaneously see as themselves and see themselves; they need to be able to see through their own eyes and the eyes of their oppressors, in order to anticipate racism against themselves. Therefore, Duck suggests, white people need to develop a similar sense of looking at themselves, of seeing themselves as white and anticipating their own racism before it occurs.

Duck pointed to Black feminist theory, comprising the works of Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, Kimberle Crenshaw, and others, as being necessary for shifting racial paradigms and working towards liberation. Black feminist theory focuses on the intersections between different types of oppression, such as oppression against race, gender, class, and sexuality. It argues that we cannot address one type of oppression without addressing them all, as the liberation of all groups of people are fundamentally linked.

He also spoke about the sociological impacts of race on health, housing, and community needs. It is important to recognize that economic stability, neighborhood, physical environment, education, food, social context, and healthcare system all have serious impacts on access to care and, therefore, health outcomes. Additionally, Black people often face implicit bias in medical contexts. Dr. Duck gave his personal experience of being talked down to or stereotyped even though he has a PhD and a degree in community medicine. The concept of submissive civility comes into play in healthcare settings, when people might be overly compliant with doctors’ racism as they seek adequate care. “Eliminating disparities in health requires acknowledging and documenting the health consequences of racism,” said Duck. 

As practical suggestions for combatting community-wide issues of access and equity, Dr. Duck suggested economic development that centers community needs, improving political representation on the local, state, and federal level, and negotiating community benefits agreements for people who have been displaced and people who remain.

Duck ended his lecture by playing an audio clip of Audre Lorde’s seminal text Hierarchies of Oppression, in which she states, “there is no hierarchy of oppression.” All oppressions must be addressed and grappled with for any kind of meaningful liberation to be achieved.

Next, some time was allowed for audience members to ask questions. Jackie Taylor inquired how the concept of submissive civility comes into play in academic settings, particularly for junior faculty of color. Duck responded that it’s built into the whole process of becoming a faculty member; you need to show deference while you’re essentially “on probation” for many years, with your career on the line if you challenge authority. People of color wanting to speak up against microaggressions might be jeopardizing their career if they do so. Institutional factors also allow mistreatment, and challenging a microaggression might mean not only going against a particular colleague, but going against the entire institution. 

Vivian Taylor then asked if Dr. Duck could share his thoughts about “cancel culture.” Duck reiterated the need for a focus on structural and systemic oppression, rather than a focus on individuals. He criticized the way social media is structured to exacerbate certain forms of oppression, joking that if he had had social media when he were younger, he might have been “cancelled.” He also pointed out that certain privileged individuals have the resources to evade true “cancellation”; those who are already marginalized might be more vulnerable to permanent consequences if they are “cancelled”. Therefore, said Duck, we need more of a focus on “understanding and forgiveness,” although people should certainly be held accountable for enacting harm on others.

Ultimately, Dr. Duck’s lecture was illuminating and hopeful, providing real and material solutions for the real and material oppressions encoded in our society. Tacit racism must be recognized, discerned, and discussed, and then, at last, dismantled.

Image via screenshot from the author’s MacBook.