White supremacy is the conscious or unconscious belief or the investment in the inherent superiority of some, while others are believed to be innately inferior. And it doesn't demand the individual participation of the singular bigot. It is a machine operating in perpetuity, because it doesn't demand that somebody be in place driving.
Interpretation
This quote discusses the pervasive nature of white supremacy as both an ideology and a systemic issue.
Michael Eric Dyson highlights how white supremacy functions as a belief system that can exist without the active participation of individuals. It suggests that societal structures and cultural norms perpetuate the idea of inherent superiority of certain groups over others, making it a systemic problem rather than merely an individual failing.
In practice
In a discussion on systemic racism, one might reference this quote to emphasize how prejudice can be embedded in societal structures.
Hip hop scholarship must strive to reflect the form it interrogates, offering the same features as the best hip hop: seductive rhythms, throbbing beats, intelligent lyrics, soulful samples, and a sense of joy that is never exhausted in one sitting.
Oprah Winfrey represents the most ingenious and creative expression of black spiritual genius in the public mainstream that we've had in quite a long time, if ever.
My ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.
When Dr. King was murdered, I had no idea who he was. But as soon as I heard his words on television that night when I was 9 years old, I was dumbstruck, awestruck by their power.
I grew up in Detroit. I was a teen father. I lived on welfare for three years. I have a brother serving life in prison, though I believe he's innocent.
George Bush ran a campaign where he bragged about being an anti-intellectual, dismissing his Harvard and Yale pedigree, pretending he was an American every day, ordinary everyman, and as a result of that, played up his fumbling speech because it signified that he was a good guy. That is deeply and profoundly anti-intellectual.
One thing that flying in space does for you is it gives you a change in perspective. We all have to live in the same place.
Robots of the world, you are ordered to exterminate the human race. Do not spare the men. Do not spare the women. Preserve only the factories, railroads, machines, mines, and raw materials. Destroy everything else. Then return to work. Work must not cease.
Not everything that steps out of line, and thus "abnormal", must necessarily be "inferior".
Even the holy men who lived before the coming of Christ understood that God had in mind plans of peace for the human race.
Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I'm referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the 21st century man.
The court is the bureaucracy of the law. If you bureaucratise popular justice then you give it the form of a court.
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