Sunday, March 21, 2021

Systematic racism, who is really to blame?

 


Growing up in the 1960's I lived through genuine systemic racism. Trust me when I tell you, it is accurate. Perhaps one should say systemic racism was real. 

Civil rights leaders, race-baiters, Democrats, and advocates are demanding an end to systemic racism, a reference to the systems in place that create and maintain racial inequality in nearly every facet of life for people of color. "This is not about one incident," said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. "This is about the systemic and pervasive nature of racism in this nation that must be addressed." Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines, defined it as "the complex interaction of culture, policy, and institutions that holds in place the outcomes we see in our lives." 

Harris used the example of housing, explaining that today, a disproportionate number of people of color are homeless or lack housing security "in part due" to the legacy of redlining. Redlining refers to a system used by banks and the real estate industry in the 20th century to determine which neighborhoods would get loans to buy homes, and communities where people of color lived — outlined in red ink — were deemed the riskiest investments. The question becomes, was this racism, or was the redline statistically correct in gauging risk? I might suppose this is another topic to research later, but for today let's say some loans were declined based on the color of one's skin, which is wrong. 

Harris, of course, is referring to an era of 1900-1999 in his example of systematic racism. Harris blames racial discrimination in mortgage lending starting in the 1930s, to be specific 1934-1939, shaped the demographic and wealth patterns of American communities today. The discriminatory practices captured by the redlining maps continued until 1968 when the Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in housing. 53 year years later and Harris is still blaming racism for the ills of the black community. 

Never mind the social ills of the black community since 1968. Seventy-five percent of black children being born to single mothers with no father. Never mind the 1980's when politicians like Joe Biden incorporated a drug war. A war that sent millions of black men to jail for lengthy sentences. Never mind the poor decision made to participate in drug dealing and the self-destruction of one's own life when the decision to use drugs is made. Never mind the idea of being responsible for oneself and, of course, for the decisions, one might make that could be detrimental. No, never mind a look inside; let's blame the actions of others 50 - 83 years ago. 

The problem is, systemic racism is not coming from white people today. Systemic racism is not a part of our laws, both federally and state. There are a few incidences that appear to be racist to some and not others, and indeed there are instances when racism rears its ugly head, but it is also well to say this is a rare exception and not the rule. 

Today like decades before, black culture is born out of rebellion and resistance towards an unfair system captured in a historical timeframe and applied to today. The idea of rebellion and the want to blame others have failed to change with society's changes and evolution of our laws and our people. In other words, if one believes white people are just as racist today as we were 80 years ago, I think I would have to disagree. If a person were to say black people are just as rebellious today as they were in the 1960s, then I would have to say no; it is worse today. 

Today, black culture is not a culture that can mix with other cultures readily because it is, by design, rebellious, low moral compass, and resistant. It was not always like this, mind you. Dr. Walter Williams wrote about black families of the1950's and earlier. These families were, in fact, far better off social-wise than after the 1960s. Today, everything from language, music, and appearance is almost the direct opposite of social norms, for lack of a better term. I am not saying one is better than the other. I am saying social models in one society of America are vastly different than another. Asking a group of people to accept or adapt to the American black culture is not practical or even possible because black culture today is in direct conflict and geared to rebel against most white people. We see this play out in the black lives matter movement, black music and lyrics, black leaders calling for others' death based on religion, black leaders calling for our law enforcement officers' deaths, and skin color. Do I have to educate anyone on the anti-Semitic teachings of Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton? 

I have to say I am proud of my fellow brothers. Living through the 1960s compared to today and I see a significant improvement in the black community. I see a portion of the black society assimilating into a higher moral value of society's social norms. That is not to say all of our brothers and sisters of the white race are of higher moral value, as they are not. What I am saying is brothers and sisters of the black community are making great strides through education. My best advice is to stop blaming all white people for the social ills of those who do not or have not simply made good life decisions. If I had the chance, I would create communities where life is taught. That is to say, how to make good decisions. Some in the black community, as in the white community, need to be reprogrammed to think good and not evil. Life is as simple as good and evil, and we tend to forget that.  

This isn't hard to understand. In America, black culture has been conditioned to believe white people are the enemy from the start. This hate training perpetrated by the media and the left has to change before anything else can make our world a better place. Sixty years of higher educational indoctrination of our youth, describing white people as the enemy has brought us to where we are today—blind followers of the Democrat party, which offers free trinkets and does not deliver. Promises like a 15.00 minimum wage, the free trinket is another false hope the black American must begin to recognize or forever be at war with white people. This indoctrination is based on lies offered by elitists who use black Americans to divide the country. 

Naturally, an inherently rebellious culture is not sustainable, even for its people. Once the rest of society distances itself from the culture, the same rebellious qualities will turn inward toward each other because that is all they know. This is why you see horrendous murder rates in our large cities like Chicago. Black Americans are right about a systemic problem, but they are looking to make changes in the wrong place.

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