Ignorance Is[n’t] Bliss (Episode 5)

This week on [un]phased, Shaunna and Lisa are asking listeners to choose to see the unpleasant truth — that systemic racism and injustice exist in our society, whether you feel it or not.

When we think about systemic racism in the United States, an analogy that comes to mind is from the movie The Matrix. In the movie, Morpheus offered Neo the choice between the red pill or the blue pill. The red pill revealed the unpleasant truth, while the blue pill would allow Neo to remain in blissful ignorance of the control the Matrix has over his life.

Shaunna contends that there have been many red pills offered to White people throughout U.S. history. One of the most recent was the filmed murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a captive audience during a world pandemic, many White people began to wake up to some unpleasant truths. Given the difficulty of talking about racism, antiracism, and systemic disenfranchisement, Shaunna fears that some White people may mimic her youngest son Kendrick and climb right back into bed, even after a long slumber.

Ignorance is bliss and ignorance is easy. But, once our eyes have been opened, there’s no way to “unsee” racial injustice. Lisa suggests that turning one’s head is complicit behavior. If we decide to go back to sleep, we have now turned a corner to willful ignorance, which is treacherous at best. Ignoring racism, sexism, ableism and other oppressive systems is certainly easier for those who have privileged social identities, but it makes us complicit in the marginalization and discrimination of others. Is complicity really a better option than facing the realities and pain of racism and other isms in our society? Shaunna and Lisa argue that it isn’t.