POLL: Does Oklahoma have a racism problem?

I’m not going to defend Monday’s commentary here, because if you carefully considered everything that was said, it’s obvious to you that I didn’t label all Oklahomans as racist, nor did I portray Oklahoma as the only state in which racism is a problem. The overarching point of the piece was that even though it’s a problem in every state, or even if less than one percent of the Oklahoma population is actually racist, we still have an image problem, and it needs to be addressed.

But I can’t say I was shocked by the nature of responses. I knew that some would inevitably skim through it, or not even read it altogether, yet proceed to complain anyway. What surprised me most, though, was how many in the comments section (always an adventure here on Oxford Karma) seemed to deny that a problem even exists at all.

So, what do you think? Does Oklahoma have a racism problem? Give us your answer in the poll below, and tell us why or why not in the comments.

Chris Harris

Yet somehow the apologists and those in denial make up the vast majority of comments on your article about race. LOLZ.
tyleormilleor

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/american-denial/

A very important documentary about how difficult it is to address our own underlying prejudices. I won’t say that the psychological testing methods are nuanced enough to get at detailed reality, but they do suggest that there are biases propagated socially/culturally and then internalized and unconscious. These are ultimately beneficial for us not to see when we are in the privileged groups. It serves our narrative about ourselves. I think it takes a lot of strength to begin looking at oneself and I can feel the reactions to your other post as a source for the emotional reaction that comes when one faces these kinds of internal struggles.

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