Monday, July 15, 2013

The Other Guy's Racism

Millions of White Americas continue to deny the reality of their own racism, quickly turning to the fact that "blacks are racist, too." No one disputes that. Racism is inherent in human DNA - original tribal loyalties, and all that.

The question here is bigger and more serious - that of power. Where's the power? And it's always been with the White Establishment. It's not directly about racism, although it is, but about the power, and who has it, and who doesn't.

African-Americans have lived for centuries with limited social power - the city of Detroit, how it redlined neighborhoods, made it impossible for Blacks to secure loans; the post office routinely aided whites to secure jobs and made it virtually impossible for Blacks; and then rammed freeways through Black Neighborhoods. Is there a Black Family anywhere in the South who doesn't have a lynching in their family story?

When Whites get preachy about "the other guy's racism," and that "the media isn't fair," then I know, absolutely, that I'm reading a racist.

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