The founders of the United States set forth a principle that a government’s legitimacy and power are derived from the consent of the governed. I certainly take this to heart as an elected official myself. Many people understand that when money and corporate interests tip the scale, they undermine a core tenant of American democracy.
Racism also undermines democracy. In the early years of our nation, slavery clearly violated the concept of consent. I have learned that after Reconstruction there was a coordinated and extensive effort to undermine, intimidate, threaten, rob, kill and disenfranchise black citizens that lasted for many years. Most white Americans have never learned about the Tulsa Race Riot, Wilmington Coup or the "racial cleansing" of Forsyth, Georgia.
Black History Month gives us an opportunity to share stories of systematic racism, which are much more pervasive than most white people realize.
Although the Civil Rights, Black Power and Black Lives Matter movements have made real progress toward equality, we see that there are still examples of systematic racism everywhere, even currently.
"Digital redlining has compounded issues facing residents of some of the country’s most segregated counties. In places already experiencing poverty, unemployment and low high school completion rates, lack of high-speed internet access means residents have an even tougher time applying for jobs, accessing vital health care services or logging into a class."
I recently read When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America by Theodore R. Johnson.
Studies show that when people of color discuss racism, they are usually referring to systematic or institutional practices. When white Americans hear the term racism, they usually associate it with interpersonal prejudices. These dissimilar starting points make it difficult to find common ground. Because our social circles are generally segregated, we are not talking to each other with the depth needed to recognize that we are not talking about the same thing.
"The extension of fuller citizen status to black Americans managed to trickle down only when the United States was obsessed with what it deemed to be more important international or domestic policy pursuits elsewhere, a byproduct of some other interest."
The state sees little gain in disrupting the social order, especially since those who would feel the most sense of loss with the eradication of racial hierarchy are also overrepresented in the systems of government. Thus, the presence and persistence of structural racism is permitted by the state. The monumental effort it will take to address racism in the United States is not a national priority. The state permits structural racism, resulting in a breach of its end of the social contract.
When the majority racial group perceives other groups seeking access to its privileges, it may feel threatened. In order to keep hold of its relative status and power, the majority group implements social controls such as burdensome social welfare programs and coercive actions such as school suspension, excessive policing and high levels of imprisonment.
The inconvenient truth for white Americans is that structural racism is costly and detrimental to them. Jonathan Metzl chronicles some consequences of racial resentment in his book, Dying of Whiteness. Middle-aged white men in rural communities are dying by suicide at much higher rates that other ethnic and age groups.
Johnson makes a case for civic education to be reinvigorated to prepare students to be informed voters. So called color-blind policies fail to acknowledge the harms experienced by certain racial groups and thus are ill-suited to creating a just and fair society.
Johnson advocates for national solidarity: “The political unity of a people demanding on moral and principled grounds, that the state address wrongs suffered by some of its members so that the rights and privileges prescribed in the social contract are equally available to all.” He asserts that the goal is not the American melting pot, but rather the American mosaic: “We can be different AND united.”
He concludes that "America is in a battle for its life - either it beats back racial hierarchy and its offspring, or it succumbs to the selfishness and hypocrisy that extinguish the pilot light of democracy."
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