In this final episode, I look again at the statistics I presented in episode 4, showing the disparate impact of our social systems on black Americans, I review two possible explanations for these statistics in the context of the definition of racism, and I read the essay "Fix Your Bias on Race: Start By Admitting It's There" from my 2021 book Close Encounters With Accountability Citizenship.

In this episode, I discuss a conversation I had with a co-worker who believed the assertion that there was racism in our society was the same as the assertion that there was this thing called "white privilege" and that, together, acknowledging the existence of these things was the same as acknowledging that he, as a white man, had not had to work hard to succeed. In this episode, by presenting the definition of racism (again) and a definition of white privilege and some statistics, I propose that accepting the existence of racism is NOT the same as acknowledging that any group or individual has not worked hard to succeed, and that, based on the standard established by the Supreme Court over 60 years ago, outcomes in our society support the idea that white privilege is real and that we still have far to go to eliminate racism in our society.

Racism is real and it is harmful to all of us. All of us (regardless of our race or color) can be racist. While racism in American history has often been extreme, violent and hateful, it can also be present in more subtle ways. In this episode, I present an example that shows some of us may not realize how our beliefs and actions are examples of racism.