Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is highlighting preconceived notions about Black people, as she is insisting many of those narratives and conclusions are common among those with liberal beliefs.
Rice participated in an interview hosted by the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday where she explained why she believes the United States will never be considered a “colorblind” nation due to all of the preconceived notions.
“I would like to get to the place that when you see somebody who is black, you don’t have preconceived notions of what they’re capable of, who they are — by the way, what they think, which is, I think, a problem of the Left,” Rice said.
She continued, “You look at somebody who’s black, and you think you know what they think, or you at least think you know what they ought to think.”
See Rice’s remarks below:
“Is there systemic racism?” Asks @peterbakernyt. Yes, @CondoleezzaRice responds, but we have to break it down into more detail. Listen to her full answer and tune in LIVE: https://t.co/BPJS3x933w #AspenSecurity pic.twitter.com/wLCRpfnMQK
— Aspen Security Forum (@AspenSecurity) August 4, 2020
Rice also shed light on a broader spectrum of systemic racism. Although the term has been widely used to describe the racial injustice and other forms of inequality in the United States, Rice discussed the depth of systemic racism and how it contributes to the “achievement gap” among Black and white students.
“I would like to have a better definition of systemic racism so that we can actually address it,” Rice said. “We have a tendency to throw terms around and then we don’t really know what they mean.”
She later added, “There is something in the system that is part of the explanation for the persistent, the stubborn achievement gap between Black students and white students.”
Rice’s comments come weeks after the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and demonstrations in at least 140 cities across the United States. Protests have been held in response to police brutality and racial inequality.
