I don't think, as an American, I could agree to pay restitution to the descendants of slaves anymore than I could expect to receive a check from England for the abuses of King George to my ancestors.
Me neither.
One of the troubles with this is that no one is guilty. You can't find a guilty person anywhere in the country. Not in business, not in politics, not in the population. Everyone's innocent! Indeed, this is the way perception works. We have no sense of "class guilt" that anyone is willing to accept. And yet, we do have the crime. No one is going to wear Nixon's guilt, for instance.
The source for any form of restitution has to be from the Federal Reserve. If they can use $3T to bail out bankers, both foreign and domestic, we can also use $3T to bail out the injured parties of the historical racism. I can't say it is cash payments, or land, or infrastructure, or what it really looks like. But, it can't be ZERO simply because no person will accept guilt. And, I am not speaking as the injured party, I am only speaking as the observer. You can't have massive crime and no restitution, and expect a good result.
As we speak, and as I am trying to explain the existing racism, there are political activists all over the South (primarily) trying to dream up new clever ways to disenfranchise blacks. So, we can't even begin to find solutions when so many people are still creating new problems. As we speak, 1200 AM radio stations across the nation are blurting out a non-stop propaganda campaign designed to denigrate blacks and lift whites to new levels of Guilt Free Virtue. As we speak, cops all over the country are looking for more opportunities today, right now, to harass blacks, deny their rights, embarrass them with their families, beat them, and if needed, shoot them. As we speak, businessmen all over the country are dreaming new schemes to lower their wages, prey on their lack of financial sophistication, and further reduce their wealth in ways they wouldn't apply to whites.
So, really, any kind of restitution talk is just hot air. We haven't ended the racism yet.
Do you assign no blame to the black community for their current plight? Is it all the white conservatives fault? I doubt this country will outgrow its racial bias within the next 50 years on its own and it is near impossible to legislate the issue. Because you can't legislate how someone should feel about someone else.
When crimes are committed, why should the victims take any blame?
I don't think I have put all the blame on "white conservatives." I have said they are responsible for the propaganda, but the blame for the 500 years of exploitation belongs to the ruling class. And that class has only mild interest retail politics, their interest is money, property and wealth. They plot the strategies of economic oppression, racism and the like. They are not "conservatives" or "liberals" as such, just the establishment owners and decision makers.
The barriers you speak of, I believe, do exist, in the form of institutional and environmental racism.
Below, at the bottom, I have quoted an excerpt of an article on institutional racism by a professor at the University of Indiana School of Education, the full article can be found here: http://diverseeducation.com/article/64583/
She indicates the research confirms what Mark indicated about hiring practices. She asks questions in a way that most people don't think about. The reason we don't think about them, according to her, and many others, is because of institutional racism, whether intentional or not. We just don't pay attention to it because we are in the minority, at least I think that is the reason why. But in looking at the questions she poses, and answering them honestly, it does highlight some areas of concern where maybe none was in our mindset's before. She is careful to say it "may" be in indication of institutional racism, not that it exists.
Redistricting is one form of institutional racism, it has occurred recently, and continues to occur. The Supreme Court found that Texas had violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in and they were forced to redraw the lines. A portion of that Act was invalidated last year and the Voting Rights Act is in a state of flux. The Court continues to rule on a 5-4 idealogical split. That everything is equal and hunky dory in the United States, even on an issue as fundamental as voting, simply isn't the case, it is pure fantasy. There is a racial divide, disconnect, or whatever you want to call it.
Here is a FACT that everyone is going to have to come to grips with, liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican. Whites will become the minority of the population during the lifetime of most everyone here (estimates range from 2040 to 2044). In Texas whites are already the minority, 45%. It is effectively a Tea Party state currently (fact, not a political comment), however, at least one Hispanic congressional district was created after the last census, and by 2020 they are predicting major and fundamental shifts. The other states where whites are in currently in the minority are California, New Mexico, and Hawaii. States where the white population has fallen below 60% are Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Mississippi and Louisiana. Minority children are now the majority in the following ten states: California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Maryland.
FACT: Minority children will be the MAJORITY in the ENTIRE US by 2019.
My solution to the "problem," what ever that may be, is to invest in our children, of whatever color, religion, or economic background. Your children, and most certainly your grandchildren, will be governed by by the majority (which will be non-white). If it means cutting defense, cutting social security, cutting the pensions of senators and congress, raising taxes on estates, individuals and corporations I don't care what it is. WIth two wars to pay for it is going to be extremely difficult, but it can be done if it is a priority. If today's minorities perceive there is discrimination, racism, or injustice, it better get dealt with now because what "goes around, comes around."
There is a solution to all of this and that is simply to just deal with, NOW, instead of saying it doesn't exist, or it was caused by prior generation(s), or ignoring it. Global warming may, or may not, happen, but the eventual transition of whites out of the majority, and eventually out of political control, will happen. It is matter of simple demographics. "They" will also ultimately control on the issues of immigration, citizenship requirements, pathway to citizenship, whether there is a free and open border to the North and South. The "we" and "them" and "those" can either start to evaporate now with a shift to WE are all in it together as "US." Or not, and eventually instead of being on the outside like "them" today, your children and your grandchildren will be on the outside.
"We The People"
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Interestingly, there is a large body of research that clearly suggests that folks tend to hire and rehire folks who tend to act and look exactly themselves. So, exactly what do those organizations mean when they report embracing, celebrating and hiring a racially diverse pool of applicants? Given the statistics about who is typically hired at most organizations — let’s say Fortune 500 companies — I would say that it does not mean much, other than those organizations might just have a structural racism problem, given their hiring practices.
How are the roots of structural and institutionalized racism formed? It’s subtle. It seems normal. It seems innocent. That is the way that institutionalized racism works; it is rooted in the core of one’s everyday existence yet it is easy to detect if we just look and assess.
If you live in the United States and you have never been around anyone or very few people of color, you may just be a part of a structurally racist system. [You might also claim that some of your best friends are, but if you have to count, then there is still a problem] When buildings are erected in the name of someone and the someone is never a person of color, then you might be sending messages to everyone about folks who are powerful, smart and valued. That is how institutionalized racism works. When pictures of presidents, board members, award-winning whomevers are hung, and they do not depict a demography that matches that of the state, city or the country, then your organization might have an institutional racism problem. Look at the organizational structure to which you belong. If the organization is disproportionately White in all upper levels positions, and all of the folks in lower level positions are folks of color, then your organization may have an institutionalized racism problem. Take a look at the hires in your own department. If it is all White, then you may just have an institutional racism problem. In addition, if the department has hired one person of color, and claims or believes that diversity goals have been met, you still have a problem. When you and the administration can name the one or two folks of color who are routinely asked to reside on every committee in your organization, then you might have an institutionalized racism problem. [bTW, folks of color can name the one or two “usual suspects” in their organization.] If those same folks who serve are always the same ones — the “usual suspects” — you might ask why? Often times, the “usual suspects” are chosen to serve because there are few folks of color in the organization, yet sometimes, the “usual suspects” are chosen because administrators are most comfortable with some people of color. Everyone has a unique biography, consciousness and reaction to oppression. In fact, those “biographies,” one’s consciousness, and or dispositionality, can resonate with those in power. In other words, the “usual suspects” will often receive nominal gratuitous rewards — appointments to menial positions, important hiring committees and some even receive “awards” for keeping their mouths shut. So yes, you may have still have an institutional racism problem. Take a look at who receives highly honored awards in your organizations … and ask why they receive them? [For instance, regarding institutions of higher education, look at endowed chairs, chancellor’s professors, even teaching awards]. You may have an institutionalized racism problem if there are few or no folks of color in the pool. Also note that if the award is granted for something diversity related, people of color tend to receive them. Again, see number 4 and ask whether the institution is rewarding the often accommodating “usual suspects.” Again, this may be an indication of a problem with institutionalized racism. When you are constantly looking for the “right fit,” and the “right fit” tends to always look like the rest of the folks that you have hired already, then you just might have an institutional racism problem. When given a chance to hire someone of color, but instead someone from your hiring committee or upper-level administration chooses to make a phone call to someone that they have known, and again, they tend to “fit” and look exactly like the majority of the institution, then your organization might have an institutionalized racism problem.
Institutionalized racism occurs in a number of spaces and organizations. While I have made reference to employees, please know that students throughout the P-20 pipeline are the victims of institutionalized racism. Take a look at who is considered to be gifted and talented. Who is typically awarded advanced placement status? Who is most often referred to special education? Who is disproportionately expelled and suspended for minor infractions (if we must refer to an eye roll as an infraction. Sometimes I don’t know how I made it through high school given the number of eye rolls delivered on a daily basis.)
Again, since racism is so deeply embedded in our culture, we cannot assume that those who benefit from a powerful system of privilege built on race will somehow learn to see or even want to see inequity and institutionalized systems of racism overnight. Yet, what messages do we send to younger human beings when everyone who resides in the neighborhood, attends school and other events, goes to the grocery store, or even attends worship service (which is by the way, the most segregated day of the week) is the same. Harrowing as it might seem (at least I think so), never exposing young folks to difference — any kind of difference — perpetuates the madness of institutionalized racism. However, if we think about it, and we truly want to end racism, then the first step is to recognize that we have a problem.
Robin L. Hughes is an associate professor in higher education student affairs in the School of Education at Indiana University. She focuses on issues of race and sports in education and in society.
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