NPR's Eric Deggans: Bigotry and racism are your issues, too

Jan. 16—Are you a racist — without realizing ?

You might be surprised, Eric Deggans said, Monday morning at WVU's Mountainlair.

Even if you inherently aren't — or think you aren't — you still may harbor some tendencies, based on your past upbringing and current circumstance, the commentator with National Public Radio said.

Deggans is NPR's chief television and media critic.

Before that, he was a newspaper reporter who authored the book, "Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation, " which hit bookshelves back in 2012.

Deggans delivered keynote remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast, which is traditionally hosted by WVU's Center for Black Culture and Research on the holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.

Monday's event was the first in-person gathering since the pandemic.

History lessons and race-primer asides were part of his talk, also interspersed with videos and other visual elements, projected onto a large screen behind him, as he casually talked and paced on the stage in the Gold Ballroom.

"I'm just letting you guys know, " he said. "I'm going to be asking a lot of questions."

The first: "When you think about all the achievements of the classic civil rights movement, what's the biggest one ?"

Answers from the audience quickly percolated.

The end of segregation in schools.

Voter's rights (finally).

Fair housing.

All were good, Deggans said, but he took the long road.

"For me, the greatest achievement was making open racism socially unacceptable, " he said.

Which, he said, meant Martin Luther King.

Being able to frankly talk about institutional racism, systemic racism and all the points and sub-points in-between, meant finally marching toward a common ground—which is all the preacher from Atlanta wanted anyway, Deggans said.

Putting it on display For every shining voice in the choir, though, there's a backslider in the back pew.

That's where the video came in, from network news shows and other sources.

In one, a panel is reacting to a column proposing a mainstream Black Santa Claus, which it, the panel, dismissed — because, of course, the moderator stressed, Santa is white. And Jesus is, too, she added.

The author of the column wasn't even invited, Deggans said.

In another, blackface is the topic of discussion. Again, the same moderator wonders if it's "all that bad, " if the makeup is applied only for Halloween, in the form of a costume depicting a famous person of color.

Well, Deggans said, both of the above are bad — because both are examples of Bigotry Denial Syndrome, which comes from both ignorance and arrogance of simply not acknowledging another perspective.

There's also the post-Civil War, Jim Crow beginnings of the practice, which was designed to caricature and spoof an oppressed population trying to make hard-earned gains in society.

A clip from Spike Lee's feature film, "Do the Right Thing, " carried a lesson on Situational Racism: A white, bigoted character, notorious for his use of the N-word, is still a fan of Magic Johnson, Eddie Murphy and Prince — "Because they're different, " he said. "They're not really Black."

"Once a Black distinguishes himself in some way, " Deggans said, "situational racism 'elevates' him out of all that. We only use prejudice and stereotypes against select members of the group."

Strategic Racism, he said, is right from inside the Beltway. It's the act, he said, of using stereotypes of marginalized groups for material gain, and political gain, especially.

"Certain people talk about undocumented immigrants in a way that increases racial panic, " he said.

Which is again a Jim Crow byproduct, he said.

"What used to happen, " the commentator said, "was that they criminalized 'being Black.'"

"If you're in town past 6 p.m. and you're Black, guess what ?"

The vagrancy or loitering arrest meant you got thrown into a lockup, which, in turn, meant you were vulnerable to "convict leasing " — meaning your labor could be purchased by a coal mine or a plantation or a farm.

"And this went on until 1927, " he said.

Then, there's White Privilege, and all its subjective standards of appearance, intellect and other benchmarks.

A search of "attractive women " on the internet tells that tale, Deggans said, as he showed a screen shot of the results to prove it.

Of all the images displayed, two were of women of color. The rest were white.

"Even Google, " he said.

Equal opportunity (after all that)

Deggans reminded the audience to listen to what Dr. King is still saying, 55 years after that assassin's bullet in Memphis.

Civil rights, the radio commentator said, echoing the fallen leader, are everyone's rights.

So is societal suffering, he said.

"I've always had this idea that marginalized people are like canaries in the coal mine for American society, " he said.

"What affects us first, eventually affects everyone."

Also on the program: Retired WVU administrator Michael Ellington was recognized with the center's 2023 MLK Achievement Award for community service ; Alpha Kappa Alpha awarded 16 inaugural scholarships named in honor of Justine A. Lee Burnett, a WVU professor who died over Thanksgiving.

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