"Lafayette Park Detroit redevelopment over Black Bottom" by Mike Russell - I (Mike Russell) created this work entirely by myself. Transferred from en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The way I see it, it's not like we haven't addressed the topic of the Witkowski family's treatment of racial issues...maybe just that we haven't addressed them enough. I think these two incredible miscarriages of moral justice (which are made even worse by the fact that, at least in Ferguson, no laws were broken by the policeman: all a policeman has to do is say he felt his life was in danger to justify lethal force and he can kill anyone he wants) are important reminders not to drop the ball on portraying the casual racism of the Witkowskis.
I think what is especially relevant about the Witkowskis is that they are guilty of the same obstacle to a just society that so many contemporary white Americans are. Their problem isn't that they harbor any sort of hatred toward African Americans. Stan and Will see themselves as sympathetic, I'm sure, coming from a disenfranchised background. I was watching a documentary on James Brown that touched on his support of Nixon, and as an immigrant family, they would probably be on board with that: the idea of economic self-determinism. They would probably help people pull themselves up by their bootstraps here and there, and probably be a little impatient with anybody who doesn't fight against the odds. I don't think they'd fall prey to that paternalistic racism of the loving slave master, really.
And Arthur obviously loves black culture and doesn't tend to see reality the way most people do; he'd be largely oblivious to the politics of race. Who knows what he even sees. I imagine he sees angels and demons, he probably sees auras and the ultraviolet spectrum, too. It's not that he's color blind, it's that he sees very different colors. He'd probably see people by their proximity to hell and heaven or something like that.
Anyway, I think the problem the Witkowskis reflect about white America is that institutionalized racism doesn't show up on their radar. It's so easy for white Americans to believe that, since they don't bear any racist sentiments, their little corner of the world has moved past racism and all that is left is for the remaining racist hearts of the world to change. This sense that the world has improved blinds them to the fact that most of the economic and political and a significant chunk of the social structures of racism are still intact and functioning very well to benefit white people and disenfranchise black people.
The problem isn't just a matter of hearts.
The problem with Stan and Will is that their eyes are on money. They view earning money as something that helps everybody: their employees, their musicians, the women in their lives who handle the charity, the promotion of black culture through music, the elevation of the disenfranchised, etc. Paving over Detroit makes money for people and protects the family. Stan doesn't see what paving over Black Bottom or cutting neighborhoods in half like the Chrysler Freeway did, or if he does, he only sees the issues on a very superficial level: people will adapt and the economic improvement will more than make up for the inconvenience.
We have similar issues with Will. If everything goes according to plan, he will help turn all of the musicians who work with Arthur into famous millionaires. How could anyone challenge his treatment of black musicians, and how could it be bad for white musicians to help build markets for black musicians? The problem is not his vision, according to Will. It's that Arthur keeps on screwing everything up, which means the tours are never supported by new records, the recording costs are never recouped, the corporation is always broke, and the band rarely gets paid and ends up being severely exploited.
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