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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - I. The Approach - 2. Encountering the Negro Problem - 5. The Etiquette of Discussion - 6. The Convenience of Ignorance
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40 An American Dilemma
and municipal authorities, and how it was favored in all ways. I said to him, “Look
here, I am an economist, I know that this state is not rich. Your infant industry has
to overcome a ruthless competition from the North where industry is long estab-
lished. Trade unions mean higher production costs. Is it really a wise policy to lay
this extra burden upon your young industry? ” My interlocutor immediately changed
mood. “Now you hit the point. And this is the reason why wc try to keep the unions
out of this state.” Then he started to tell me the techniques used to keep out labor
organizers from the state.
I changed the subject of conversation and told him 1 had been visiting some mills
and felt that there was too little interest shown for security measures to protect the
workers against accidents. The official started out to give me a vivid impression of
factory legislation and factory inspection as being the very thing nearest to the legis-
lators’ hearts in this state. Again I invoked my profession as an economist, empha-
sized the cost factor and the competitive situation; and again 1 got the answer, “You
hit the point” and the totally different story about the attitude of the state.
These inconsistencies and contradictions should not be taken as indicat-
ing simply personal insincerity. They are, rather, symptoms of much
deeper, unsettled conflicts of valuations. The absorbing interest in the form
of a mattery the indirectness of approach to a person, a subject, or a
policy j
the training to circumvent sore points and touchy complexes—which
we consider as symptoms of escape—are developing into a pattern of
thinking and behavior which molds the entire personality. People become
trained generally to sacrifice truth, realism, and accuracy for the sake of
keeping superficial harmony in every social situation. Discussion is sub-
dued j
criticism is enveloped in praise. Agreement is elevated as the true
social value irrespective of what is to be agreed upon. Grace becomes the
supreme virtue j
to be ‘‘matter of fact” is crude. It is said about the Southern
Negro that he is apt to tell you what he thinks you want him to say. 1 his
characteristic ascribed to the Negro fits, to a considerable extent, the whole
civilization where he lives.
This escape mechanism works, however, only to a point. When that
point is reached, it can suddenly be thrown out of gear. Then grace and
chivalry, in fact, all decent form, is forgotten j
criticism becomes bitter;
opinions are asserted with a vehemence bordering on violence; and dis-
agreement can turn into physical conflict. Then it is no longer a question
of escape. The conflict is raging in the open.
6. The Convenience of Ignorance
In this connection the remarkable lack of correct information about the
Negroes and their living conditions should at least be hinted at. One
need not be a trained student of the race problem to learn a lot in a couple
of days about the Negroes in a community which is not known by even
its otherwise enlightened white residents. To an extent this ignorance is
not simply “natural” but is part of the opportunistic escape reaction.
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