This week on CounterSpin they aired a story about a GMA piece on racism where Roxanne Roberts and Dianne Sawyer returned to their Southern communities to talk to individuals about race. The end result was that both blacks and whites they talked to had a more positive outlook for blacks and a better attitude with less prejudice towards each other. Sounds good doesn’t it?

It’s not good enough for the CounterSpin staff they say racism isn’t about prejudices and perceptions of individuals but about the socio-economic gap between races. They think that just because more people view members of the opposite race as equals that doesn’t mean that their is less racism. For the people at CouterSpin I provide some definitions of racism from the Internet:

Definitions of racism on the Web:

• the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races
• discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Racism, by its simplest definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups. …

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

• The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes; The belief that one race is superior to all others; Prejudice or discrimination …

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/racism

Ok, on average African-Americans are still in a lower economic bracket than whites, but if the Euro-Americans around them don’t have anything against them and view them as just as capable as a white individual they now have the same ability to rise out of their current condition. Their past was bleak, their future is brighter. The world isn’t perfect yet (with respect to racism) but it has greatly improved.

GMA’s conclusion that their is less “racism” now than there was several years ago is a fair one, supported by the evidence they gathered. CounterSpin is supposed to point out factual errors and missed stories, they failed on this one. This reporting was accurate and balanced.