84 / 131
82
Discrimination and the Roma Community 2014
which appears in the Bible) and naturalist (biological-
ly-based racial inequality and the superiority of some
races over others as an outcome of the survival of the
fittest principle (theories of social Darwinism). And then
we have to add the racist operation
par excellence:
“projection” which means blaming the victim for get-
ting him/herself into the situation of disadvantage. This
is a conservative rationalisation based on the conviction
that the world has a natural just order and therefore
disadvantaged people either deserve their lot in life or
have earned it. According to this school of thought
there are no “innocent victims”.
It goes without saying that the ideological mecha-
nisms underpinning this old-school racism still persist
(negation and projection) even though their biological
basis has been objectively proven false. Classic
avant
la lettre
racists such as those belonging to Nazi move-
ments have an objectively outrageous ideological basis
but their actions are sadly real. In any event, they are a
minority. It is a different phenomenon that is worrisome
today. Federico Javaloy (“The New Face of Racism”, An-
nals of Psychology, 1994, pp. 19-28) describes it quite
well. D.O. Sears and D.R. Kinder were the first ones to
talk about “neo-racism” or “symbolic racism” back in
1970. Language is vital to this new variety of racism
inasmuch as it does not directly reveal its true nature
but rather lurks behind presumptions, suppositions and
implicit assertions. It is both subtle and indirect and is
therefore able to shroud itself in an air of social respect-
ability and find acceptance in political discourse.
The symbolic racism described by Sears and Kinder
was based on prejudice against African-Americans but
disguised itself as a defence the American way of life
in contrast to theirs. Applying this to Spain: Roma, im-
migrants, etc. do not contribute to the development of
the country but do just the opposite; they barely make
any valuable social contribution and, in return, receive an
abundance of public benefits. The recent declarations
made by the Mayor of Vitoria claiming that Algerians
and Moroccans live mostly off of public aid is a good
example. Aid measures or affirmative action targeting
these minorities are seen as unfair. The very existence of
discrimination is denied: there is no inequality in access
to education, employment or housing; many believe
that everyone has the same opportunities (and even
that minorities take unfair advantage of social rights and
services —and that these are undeserved) and if Roma
and other minorities have higher unemployment rates
or inferior jobs or training, it is strictly their own fault.
Neo-racism manages to conciliate its prejudices with
a favourable view of equal treatment. Moreover, it re-
jects racism but it also rejects the measures designed
to combat it. Criticism of ethnic minorities is subtle (for
example, statistics are used to demonstrate that the
number of members of ethnic minorities in prison is
substantially higher than that of the overall population);
they reject overly obvious stereotypes and shameless
discrimination. They exaggerate cultural differences.
This liquid racism conceals racial hostility and uses a
type of language as politically correct as it is false thus
achieving acceptance in public but rejection in private.
It causes people to shun the idea of co-existence and
replaces the biological concept of race with culture
(“our culture” as opposed to that of others) and inequal-
ity with difference (discrimination replaced by legiti-
mate difference, stressing a multi-cultural rather than
inter-cultural approach: all cultures are respectable but
each one should proceed in its own lane and not mix
with any other).
To better understand this concept of liquid racism
that is so typical of Spanish society, we must be con-
scious of one of its main elements: many people exhibit
neo-racist behaviours without even realising it. In fact,
they would probably energetically and sincerely reject
racism and xenophobia. This type of racism is often
unconscious. The overwhelming majority of people
perceive racism as something profoundly wrong from
a moral, social, cultural and legal point of view and is
therefore something that we ideologically prohibit.
But racist prejudices remain intact. This contradiction
arises because we consciously suppress racism but it
re-emerges over and over the first chance it gets.
III. Examples of liquid racism.
There are many examples from everyday life that will
help us to better understand the concept of liquid rac-
ism and prove that it is alive and well. The woman who
refuses to rent her flat to a Peruvian Ph.D. student. The
security guard who follows the Roma woman around
from the moment she enters the shop until she leaves.
The manager of the municipal swimming pool who “in-
vites” the Roma woman and her daughter to get out of
the pool so as not to pollute the water. The waiter who
kicks a group of Moroccans out of the nightclub so that
they don’t “intimidate the customers”. The employer
who refuses to hire a person the minute s/he discovers
they are Roma. These are but a few of many examples
that all share something in common: the discriminators
do not realise that their actions are based on racist
prejudice and the victims are ignorant of, do not trust
and will not make use of the redress mechanisms that
are available to combat discrimination (which, but the
way, still need to have the rust shaken off them but I’ll
address that another day). This and more occurs every
single day. And no one is held accountable.