Fashion designer John Galliano will face trial in France for the racist and anti-semitic comments he made drunkenly at a Paris cafe. (
Article here) If convicted, he could face fines and jail time.
How does the reaction to Galliano's racial slurs fit into Fanon's warning that characterizing racism as an individual failing allows the larger cultural element of racism to go unchallenged?
As Dr. Johnson said in class, our society condemns the "frothing at the mouth" racists, allowing the vast majority to dismiss their own racist attitudes and/or behavior. News stories that punish racism, such as the one mentioned above, perpetuate the notion that "racist" behavior exists on the individual level rather than the societal level. As a result, the racial structures that exist in our society go unnoticed.
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