Common Sense Racism and Desperate Housewives

After reading Ian F. Haney Lopez’, “Racism on Trial, The Chicano Fight for Justice” and the idea of common sense racism, I couldn’t help thinking back to an episode of Desperate Housewives that I had watched while at home over spring break. In the particular scene I reflected on, which I also posted, Gaby brings her children to Carlos’ office because she needs to talk to him. Carlos has recently brought in Lucy to crack down on his business and help it become the stronger. Lucy has glass figurines that are very important to her, and doesn’t let anyone in the office touch them. While Gaby is talking to Carlos, their children wander into Lucy’s office, unsupervised, where Lucy finds them playing with her figurines. The scene then cuts to Carlos and Gaby walking down the hallway to find out what the yelling they hear is about, to find Lucy yelling at the cleaning lady, who seems to be of Hispanic descent, about letting her children wander around the office. “Office, Si! Daycare, No!” Lucy yells at the woman. Carlos asks what is going on, and Lucy replies, “Apparently, some people don’t understand that this is a place of business and they need to keep their kids at home!” When Carlos tells Lucy that they are his kids, not the cleaning lady’s, Lucy immediately calms down, and in a much calmer tone apologizes, thinking that the kids were the cleaning lady’s, and proceeds to walk away. Carlos stops her, saying, “So what if they weren’t [his kids], is this how you talk to people?” and proceeds to fire Lucy.
In his book, “Racism On Trial,” Lopez writes, “Common sense is so integral to racism in the contemporary United States that I suggest a new definition: racism is action arising our of racial common sense and enforcing racial hierarchy” (127). In the Desperate Housewives episode, Lucy saw the kids in her office and immediately assumed that they were the cleaning lady’s, spoke to her in a way that assumed that she didn’t understand English, and that she would need to put her kids in daycare or bring them to work with her. Upon discovering that they are actually Carlos, her boss’ kids, she lowers her voice and apologizes, dismissing the problem right away. Like the woman cleaning the office, Carlos and his children are Hispanic, however Lucy doesn’t apply the same behavior towards him because he is her boss, and within the social hierarchy of the office, above her. Lopez also states, “In daily life, we continually make decisions, yet these decisions are almost never based on a complete reevaluation of a situation’s every facet. Instead, we use mental shortcuts to choose from preset alternatives. These shortcuts and alternatives often function as common sense” (123). Lucy used mental shortcuts to jump to the conclusion that the Hispanic children she found in her office belonged to the Hispanic cleaning lady, instead of thinking through the possibilities and asking the children who their parent were. Because of her assumption, she demonstrated common sense racism.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P9lnuqM5mU