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AUTHOR COLEMAN HUGHES OFFERS A NEW WAY TO RECONSIDER RACE
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Published Feb. 10, 2024, 8:00 a.m. ET
The new book "The End of Race Politics" sees young author Coleman Hughes
consider ways beyond our nation's obsession with identity. Hearst Newspapers via
Getty Images
MORE ON: IDENTITY POLITICS
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Few political commentators have caught the national spotlight quite like
27-year-old Coleman Hughes, a Columbia University graduate and New Jersey native
whose observations on race, class, and politics reveal wisdom and insight far
beyond his years. Critical of both the nation’s obsession with race and the
reliance on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to redress
race-based inequalities, Hughes is the rare young writer of color who rejects
progressive “woke” orthodoxies in exchange for hard data – and old-fashioned
common sense.
In 2019, Hughes testified before Congress, where he opposed a federal effort to
develop a formalized plan for slavery reparations — publicly opposing the far
better-known (and far older) author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has long
supported reparations for African Americans. Now Hughes has released “The End of
Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America” (Thesis), in which he argues
that structural policies to redress America’s racist past — particularly DEI —
are only hurting its present. In the excerpt that follows, Hughes explains how
America reached this contentious racial reckoning — and suggests that the nation
might actually be far more united than our dividers might like us to believe.
8
The Bush years and early Obama years represented a fairly healthy equilibrium
for America on the issue of race. The majority of Americans — both black and
white — believed that race relations were good. Then, after 2013, something
changed. Around that time American attitudes toward race relations took a
nosedive. By 2021 about half as many Americans felt that we were in a good place
as felt that way in 2013.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that whatever happened after 2013 represents the
biggest setback in American race relations in at least a generation.
So what happened? Why did people’s attitudes toward race relations take a
nosedive in 2013? We can rule out a few explanations. It probably was not the
election of President Obama, since he presided over five years of good race
relations. And it probably wasn’t President Trump either, as the downward trend
began three years before he was elected, and doesn’t appear to have reversed
itself since his departure from office. As much as we like to blame presidents
for everything, the reality is that sweeping social trends have causes that run
deeper than a single individual.
8
In 2019, Hughes testified before Congress during hearings to consider
reparations for slavery. Hughes opposes the idea. Getty Images
We can also rule out the idea that actual racism suddenly increased in 2013. If
there had been an uptick in the popularity of white supremacy or an uptick in
the number of unarmed black people shot by police, then we might have reason to
suspect that there was an increase in racism. But neither of those is the case.
Support for white supremacy has been steadily declining for decades, and so has
the annual number of police shootings.
The more plausible explanation is that 2013 is about the time that a critical
mass of Americans had two pieces of tech: camera-enabled smartphones and social
media. The widespread use of social media and smartphones increased the speed at
which content could spread throughout the world. But not all content was able to
take advantage of this development equally. The ideology I call “neoracism” —
which casts whites as an oppressor race and everyone else as victims — was able
to take advantage of this development in a way that other ideologies could not.
8
In his book, Hughes reviews and reconsiders the causes and extent of the police
brutality against African Americans that have resulted in mass protests and
social justice movements. AFP via Getty Images
Here’s an analogy: Imagine that the speed limit on a highway was suddenly raised
from 75 mph to 200 mph. Not all cars would be able to take advantage of this
change. If you drive a Chevy Spark (with a top speed of 89 mph), the new speed
limit change wouldn’t benefit you much. But if you drive a McLaren Speedtail
(with a top speed of 250 mph), you’d suddenly be able to travel much faster.
What happened around 2013 is that the speed limit on the information highway was
suddenly raised—not by a factor of two or three, but by several orders of
magnitude. And it turns out that certain content has a much higher “top speed”
than other content. Anything that appeals to our tribal identities, us versus
them narratives, or historical grievances travels fast. These pieces of content
are the McLarens of the Internet. Anything that emphasizes common humanity,
rational analysis, or fact-checking, on the other hand, travels far more slowly.
These are the Chevy Sparks.
8
In his book, Hughes revisits the case of Michael Brown, the teen killed by
police officers in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014. EPA
When Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson in Ferguson in 2014, the
narrative that a racist cop had killed an unarmed black teenager who had his
hands up spread quickly. As far as narratives go, this one tapped into every
psychological trigger that would lead people to share it widely: black v. white,
historical grievances, violence, and so on. The fact-check of this event — that
Michael Brown did not have his hands up, had physically overpowered the officer,
punched him, and tried to steal his gun — traveled slowly because it appealed
more to reason than to outrage. Indeed it traveled so slowly that it still has
not reached the countless individuals who, years later, still believe the
mythical version of events. To this day, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” remains one of
the most popular slogans at Black Lives Matter protests.
Back when all information spread more slowly, the fact-checked version of events
could arrive in time to preempt false representations (the Chevy and the McLaren
arrived at the same time). But those days are over. In the age of social media,
myths, and half-truths can more easily outrun the facts.
Neoracist ideology — because it casts every event as an instance of us versus
them, good versus evil, black versus white — has been able to take advantage of
the increased speed and decreased quality of the information people circulate.
The majority of black Americans pre-2013 believed that race relations were good.
Consider the following chart, which tracks the percentage of black Americans who
believe that racial discrimination was the main issue causing disparities in
housing, jobs, and income:
8
During his 2019 appearance at Congress, Hughes faced off against the far-older
author Ta-Nehisi Coates, a major proponent of reparations. The Washington Post
via Getty Im
As late as 2013, a clear majority of black Americans did not think that
discrimination was the main driver of racial disparities. That is back when
people were judging societal issues mainly by reference to their own lived
experience — in addition to a slow-moving information diet that consisted of
reading newspapers and watching the news on TV.
8
Gallup
Prior to 2013, most blacks and whites in America thought race relations were
good. The trend line showed that fewer and fewer blacks every year saw racial
discrimination as a big issue. Then everything changed. We saw a tenfold
increase in mentions of race and racism — despite every indication that
viewpoints about actual racism against blacks were trending downward.
Why, then, did people’s perception of race relations take a nosedive after 2013?
The answer is that smartphones and social media changed the speed limit of
information — which in turn gave a massive competitive advantage to ideas,
information, narratives, and arguments that tap into division, tribalism, and
grievances. Neoracism was among the ideologies able to take advantage of this
seismic change. Ultimately, this change resulted in an information diet that is
less tethered to reality, not more.
8
“Hands-Up/Don’t-Shoot,” just one of the many seminal slogans to emerge from
America’s social-justice movements. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Correlational data show that black people who use social media are more likely
to report being victims of racial discrimination than black people who don’t.
Correlation does not imply causation. But the data, at least, are consistent
with the view that social media has caused a major shift in how people view
themselves and the world — a shift away from reality and toward paranoia,
pessimism, and catastrophizing.
The news doesn’t report on the millions of black people who never encounter
racism in their daily lives. Their experiences aren’t newsworthy. The upshot:
the media is heavily biased toward reporting emotionally charged stories of
racism — stories that create a misperception that racism is a more widespread
social problem than it is. It’s important to see the media for what it is: a
business—one that aims at increasing views, clicks, and subscriptions. The media
has realized that anti-black racism sells, so it highlights anything that can be
spun in that direction.
8
Hughes suggests that America’s obsession with race and identity belies the
actual data behind it — and is leading the country toward “paranoia, pessimism,
and catastrophizing.” Evan Mann
36
What do you think? Post a comment.
You might object that social media and smartphones have merely made us more
aware of the widespread racism that’s actually out there. If this were true,
then we’d expect Americans in the age of social media to have an accurate
perception of the amount of racism in society. That proposition has been tested
and has come back negative. For instance, 54% of “very liberal” Americans — the
section of the population most active on social media — believe that over one
thousand unarmed black men were killed by the cops in 2019. The real number was
twelve. Social media isn’t educating us. It’s miseducating us.
From “The End Of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America,” by Coleman
Hughes, published on Feb. 6 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a
division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright (c) 2024 by Coleman Hughes.
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In 2019, Hughes testified before Congress during hearings to consider
reparations for slavery. Hughes opposes the idea. Getty Images
In his book, Hughes reviews and reconsiders the causes and extent of the police
brutality against African Americans that have resulted in mass protests and
social justice movements. AFP via Getty Images
In his book, Hughes revisits the case of Michael Brown, the teen killed by
police officers in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014. EPA
During his 2019 appearance at Congress, Hughes faced off against the far-older
author Ta-Nehisi Coates, a major proponent of reparations. The Washington Post
via Getty Im
Gallup
"Hands-Up/Don't-Shoot," just one of the many seminal slogans to emerge from
America's social-justice movements. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Hughes suggests that America's obsession with race and identity belies the
actual data behind it — and is leading the country toward "paranoia, pessimism,
and catastrophizing." Evan Mann
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