The Root of Racism
As we struggle to overcome the pandemic of Covid we find ourselves also warring against the aged old enemy of racism which continues to rear its ugly head in the year 2020. While the tragic and most recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmad Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks (just to name a few) have unfortunately provided the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, we must not become satisfied with cosmetic reform that will only change the appearance of the racist system in which we live. We must go at the root of this oppression to ensure that justice prevails. From its very beginning the U.S. was born through slavery and genocide, and upon drafting the Constitution, Blacks and Native Americans were not in the drafters mind to be included whereas the preamble states "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice... 'to ourselves and our posterity.'" austerity here refers to the bloodline of White men, and was never intended in the original thought to include any others. Therein lies the problem, for at that time, White was seen as Supreme, operating upon the concept of Manifest Destiny, therefore the laws reflected such, so no matter how much we may desire to be included or how many amendments have been made to incorporate those left out, the Original Psychology of the forefathers can still be seen manifested in some of their posterity/descendants. This is the reason a slave patroller/police officer will put his knee upon the neck of a Black Man for 8 min. 46 sec. until his body lies there lifeless.
The belief that White is Supreme is alive and well, and this is at the root of the problem. The concept of race is a fairly new one that was born through commerce and the global expansion of trade. In the 7th edition of the Black's Law dictionary, the definition of "Race" is "Ethical Stock." When we look at the Second College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary a definition of stock is: "The total merchandise kept on hand by a merchant or commercial establishment." but when we look under the "Economic" definition of stock, it says:
"A race, family, or other related group of animals or plants; and An ethnic group or other major division of mankind. So with that when we look at racism, it is something beyond prejudice, hatred, and bigotry. It involves an economic element.
Still, I will go a little further. If you assimilate into a system of racist rulership which has benefited from racial oppression, and you love all of its bells, whistles, and perks, yet you are not necessarily wealthy, then you too can be a racist if you support laws and policies that deprive one ethnicity for the advancement of another. In fact, if you don't support such but you remain silent on the issue you are complicit, for silence means consent. For all intent purposes the only one who can be a racist in North America is a Caucasian White Man. Other ethnicities may exemplify prejudice, but they don't have enough Power nor Influence to outdo a system of White Supremacy built for the advancement of whites and their posterity. Therefore the only solution is Freedom, and Justice, in terms of Equality.
Reparations are in order. Laws have to be rewritten (starting with the Constitution). Wealth has to be redistributed; Mental and Physical Healthcare must be addressed; and yes, Monuments and Racist names should be torn down, but the real monuments that are a testament to the evolution of slavery are the Prison Houses that hold 2.3 million men/women, approximately half of which are Black. Therefore if we truly want to tear down a racist system it is essential that we put Prisons (as we know them) in the conversation.