Embed from Getty Images
—
RSVP for #StopRacism Weekly Calls
—
I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are in a time in a country that is almost irreparably fractured among racial lines. News media platforms spew overly racist comments on the airwaves and go unchallenged. Youth across the 50 states are being attacked because of the color of their skin, their decision to wear a religious garment, and their nationality every minute of every hour of every day via the internet. Angry white mobs storm streets in cities in the United States under the philosophy of bigotry. A multi-ethnic counter protest demonstration is attacked by a racist white man, claiming the life of a young woman and injuring nineteen others. The current sitting president, who was elected while running a campaign of xenophobia and hate, during a statement all but dismisses the “rallies” as hate on “many” sides and then champions insignificant gains made in his administration. Now open your eyes and look around. You will find that the time I just described is not an imagined one of chaos, but life in America today.
The events of the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia were shocking to many people, but to non-white people, they shouldn’t be. These violent displays of action are not new to our lives. Since the start of America, white people have in some form terrorized Black, Latino, Native American, Asian, and people of Middle Eastern descent. This is so much the norm that I believe white supremacy may never be eradicated from our life.
As a race man, I have grown to look at almost everything through that prism. There is rarely anything not examined from a racial lens. This can be exhausting, but it has kept me steeped in reality. I subscribe to the train of thought of Derrick Bell, former Harvard law professor and creator of the theory, “The Permanence of Racism” which simply means there will always be some form of racism existing. As Dr. Tommy Curry, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M, and Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, have consistently remarked, racism is forever evolving and has changed with the times. To give further context, it is illegal for police to enforce The Black Codes, a set of laws made to restrict African-American’s freedom post slavery. However, in 2015 a study was completed that showed Black people in San Francisco, who comprise about four percent of the city’s population, totaled 47 percent of the non-consent searches following traffic stops.
In reading through many pieces in the aftermath of Charlottesville about how America, white and Black, and other races can reconcile and come together, I shake my head, sigh, and think to myself, “We are not looking at this issue correctly.” Below I have written 12 reasons why I believe white supremacy may not ever be eradicated. Read and please discuss.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because there is not a thorough understanding of what it is. We think it is Nazi rallies and cops killing Black people. We use words like “White privilege” and “white fragility”, and think Black folks can be racist. We don’t understand that racism is a system that subjugates non-white people in all areas of life such as employment, housing, law, health care, and education, while maintaining a system that benefits every white person. How can we stop something when we do not have a good definition of what it is?
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because well-meaning white people who feel they are not racist because they don’t use the N word or would have voted for Obama three times, will call the police on someone of color who looks suspicious walking around their neighborhood.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because as James Baldwin said, “There is a need for the Nigger.” Deep down, many white people have a need to see Black people as a lesser developed and more savage species then they, who should be controlled. They feel we can never be equal and this feeds into a false sense of superiority that numerous white people possess. This is why Mike Brown’s murder can be justified.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because there is a belief that racism is of ignorance and not deliberate. This toxic train of thought is shared by many people who think that all we need to do is teach racist whites, expose them to different cultures, and then they will be cured. Racism being ignorant bypasses that whites have displayed the same behavior for hundreds of years, while they themselves have lived amongst many different races and cultures.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because we also believe that racism will die out with the old. This was disproved in Charlottesville with much of the white supremacist marchers being young and of college age.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because white people have a problem with how Black people fight back. You want us to pray, march, and be patient. When Black people demand and scream for change, white people call us troublemakers and scold us for being too forceful. This brings to mind the famous Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote about the “moderate white liberal.”
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because whenever a Black professor such as Dr. Curry or Johnny Eric Williams, professor of Sociology at Trinity College, says anything against the racist treatment of non-white people, their words are misconstrued and lives are threatened with harm.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because many Black people have not accepted where we are in the world. We think we can love and coddle racists, look inside their hearts, and change white people. That will never happen, but we continue to do so.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because while employers tout diversity, their workforce does not reflect this. In Silicon Valley, Google’s workforce is 2% Black, while Yahoo is at 3%.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because whenever a Black, Latino, Asian, or Middle Eastern person tries to address race, they are gas-lighted or told they are “playing the race card” and to “get over it.”
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because of the 63% of white men and the 53% of white women who cast their vote for an unabashed racist in Donald Trump for the presidential election.
- White supremacy may never be eradicated because at the end of the day, whether you are poor, LGBTQ, liberal, man, woman…you can go back to that cloak of whiteness.
While what I have laid out before you may sound hopeless, my aim is to not depress or create sadness, but to again be steeped in reality. I believe white people may never stop practicing racism – what incentive do they have to stop? We have to ask ourselves these very hard questions here. Through examining today from a different perspective, then we could possibly find a solution to defeat the biggest problem on earth.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
RSVP for #StopRacism Weekly Calls
LeRon – I agree with your connclusioin but would add a ‘reason’.
White Supremacy may never be eradicated because being ‘supreme’ is the whole point of being white and no matter what changes the wider society may make whites will simply evolve to stay onn top of whatever heap emerges.
Are you saying whites are superior?
Absolutely not. First I suppose I should be clear: 1. Im not from America, therefore my understanding and use of ‘white’ may differ. Having lived in the US for a few years I’m acutely aware that race relations in that country are very specific and so I should have been more careful in my post. My idea of white includes populations from Iceland to New Zealand and all points in between. 2. Im not limiting my idea of whiteness and white culture to superficial behaviours like food/music/dress etc – even skin colour can be negotiated. Likewise I’m not talking about… Read more »
I believe, sadly, that your article is accurate.