Racism in America

In a recent talk I had with my mother, she pointed out that conservatives, both white and black, place blame on the black community for wealth inequality, and asked me to comment.

I began by acknowledging that there is some truth here.  I’m sure an objective analysis of large numbers of white and black families would show important differences in values and behaviors re: wealth creation.  However, this is a complicated issue that has many causes, and selecting one while ignoring the others is simply an exercise in racism itself.

Consider:

• 350 years of slavery was followed by 100 years of Jim Crow and 65 years (and counting) of de facto segregation and overt discrimination. Blacks are still excluded from white institutions where important business connections are made–in everything from college fraternities to country clubs.  My father was a successful real estate broker, but I would say that, in the last 30 years of his career, the majority of his deals, and certainly most of the big ones, came about as a result of his country club membership.

• Insofar as slavery was a scourge that existed in the American South, large black populations remain there.  In general, these states do very poorly in ranking re: education and job opportunity.

• Blacks continue to receive generally inferior education because most cannot afford private schools and public schools are funded by property taxes, which are far less in black neighborhoods.

• As the world is just now beginning to understand, white privilege exists in dozens of different forms, including not having to fear that a traffic stop could result in death at police hands.

• At the same time, we’re starting to understand mass incarceration, and the pipeline that exists between an underprivileged home environment and prison.

• Voter suppression so as to manipulate political outcomes is quite common in the U.S., and tend to work against people of color.  This takes many forms: voter ID laws including proof of citizenship, cuts to early voting, mass purges of voter rolls, the redrawing of district lines, and limiting the window of time in which voters can register.

It’s shocking to hear black celebrity actors like Morgan Freeman or some National Basketball Association superstar deny that racism exists in America, just because they happen to be extremely talented and became mega-rich.  It should be obvious to everyone that this is a huge problem, and that we all need to deal with it collectively.

Let’s keep in mind what Ben Franklin told us.  The world is watching.