Institutionalized racism. Just looking at those two words together makes me think that even Fort Knox is less impenetrable. The fragment smacks of hopelessness. It’s not just racism—no no—it’s obfuscated racism, integrated into our very existence to the point where it becomes CO2. I liken “institutionalized racism” to air because it’s invisible but too much of it will make us light-headed and unconsciously complacent. Think about the reason for those air masks in airplanes. (Pardon my Fight Club reference.) The gas, oxygen, makes you euphoric and so dizzy when inhaling large quantities, you become calm and accepting. This is what the term “institutionalized racism” recalls for me. It’s inherent to the point where it’s unrecognizable and so much a part of our existence, it’s completely ignored. And although I am affected by its presence, like oxygen, I’m not the one who needs it to survive.  

There are cultures, institutions, for which racism works and is favorable. Take my favorite orchestra to ride, the Vienna Symphony. To many members of that exclusive club, women and minorities affect the actual music-making and hearing. The hegemony of the organization somehow preserves its history and grounds or unifies its performers and future. But not all organizations, especially American organizations (let’s go as far as to say Northern organizations because many Southern orgs do not hide their racism as well—nor do they care to), have the luxury to state its overt racism.  

It occurred to me the other day that while I read articles from a lot of different sources, I am always reading the same kinds of materials. Much of what I read chronicles an institution for which I can see no solution: racism. The NY Times published an article this summer entitled “Where Are All the Black Swans.” The piece was about the hiring practices of women of color into the institution of ballet. It questioned the phenomenon of women of color dancing in modern companies but the scarcity of them in “classical” or traditional ballet. The connection to culture or institution of classical music was obvious. I could have easily substituted ballet for orchestra in any given sentence and written the article myself. But that’s what drew me into the subject.  

I have no real stake in ballet. It’s a form of art, yes, but besides it being visually stimulating, I don’t know any Black ballerinas and don’t know how it relates to my culture or history. In addition, I support the organizations and institutions that support me/my community. Therefore, I don’t really go to the ballet because I’m not going to see me there, so to speak. You know what I mean. As a result, the message that I receive is that Blacks don’t belong here otherwise you’d see more, which is not restricted to any one thing. A friend recently brought up a similar commercial about college which displayed white students, an Asian student and then at the very end--two bi-racial students who just so happened to be distant and out-of-focus. The message that my friend received? Black people don’t attend college. Now this is a professional woman with a few degrees under her belt so obviously she knows that we do, but imagine if she received this message what high school and college-aged kids received. It’s the same message that I and perhaps many of you receive when we see anything related to classical music. “You don’t belong here. If you did, you’d be here.” 

But what about the institution of education? Surely there can’t be institutionalized racism within the realm of education. Education is not traditionally a black thing or a white thing, is it? I’m speaking rhetorically here of course because we all are aware of the phrase “knowledge is power” and power is restricted and exclusive to those who want to maintain their exclusively powerful positions. Therefore education is another system in which racism takes hold.  

“Why American Universities are Fundamentally Racist” is an OpEd piece written by Dr. Boyce Watkins, a professor of finance at Syracuse University that I came across the other day. Dr. Watkins echoed a sentiment about the hiring practices of higher education that I and other writers on classical music have stated, namely the excuses by those who hire for the lack of blacks in their institutions. The top three excuses for the lack of “diversity” in higher education:

1. “We can’t find them, they don’t exist”
2. “They are not qualified for hiring or tenure”
3. “We made offers to them, but they won’t take the job”

How many times and in how many places are these excuses prevalent? But are they true? I’ve already stated here that they’re not, at least for classical music and the hiring practices of orchestras. But of course I would say that knowing you, dear readers, and the hundreds of you with advanced degrees who have been victims of these excuses lets me know that the excuses are not true. You’ll recall my conversation with a jerk who was so brainwashed by racist ideals, he tried to feed me this crap too. What I said to him is what Dr. Watkins asked as well--we have to question precisely who is doing the evaluating and with what standards are they doing so. Dr. Watkins states: “If a group/committee created and sustained by an historically racist institution is making decisions on who is qualified and who is not, then their criteria for choosing those who are most qualified is again likely to support the advancement of one group over another.” 

Now I’m no conspiracy theorist, but the connections, whether in dance, music or education are uncanny. Why is it that I can pick up a newspaper or journal and read basically the same article? Institutionalized racism. Now when I say it, it sounds all negative. But that’s only because I’m not benefiting from the exclusion. Perhaps it’s not just the European-derived classical arts that want to maintain their traditions. Is there anything wrong with that preservation? And why doesn’t it go the other way? Where are all of the white authors writing about their decisions for exclusiveness so much as the black authors writing about being excluded? Why is it that those who are affected, victimized or marginalized, have something to say and the policy-makers don’t? 

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