If, however, the speaker understands racism as an institutional system into which we are all socialized, then the speaker wouldn’t make this disclaimer, understanding that the conflict cannot be free of racial dimensions. We bring our racial histories with us, and contrary to the ideology of individualism, we represent our groups and those who have come before us. Our identities are not unique or inherent but constructed or produced through social processes. What’s more, we don’t see through clear or objective eyes—we see through racial lenses. On some level, race is always at play, even in
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