Systemic Racism in the US is insidious, complex, and ugly
Let me start by saying I consider myself lucky. I grew up in a household where questioning what I was taught in school was encouraged, and our dinner table conversations frequently included analysis of world events as well as debate of political issues.
I remember as early as 4th grade, my parents and I questioned my public school state history curriculum which clearly stated that Annie Tallent was “the first woman in South Dakota” — because, of course, Native women somehow didn’t count (it’s since been corrected I can only assume).
I also remember my dad exclaiming on more than one occasion: “the war on drugs is a war on blacks” — and even though we were geographically far from the hotspots in the “war on drugs” in Western South Dakota, I internalized the viewing criminal justice issues through the lens of racial justice way before I would ever have considered myself “woke” to systemic racism.
We are now in the middle of the largest Civil Right uprising in the modern world, and many are cautiously optimistic that we are a turning point with racial justice in the United States, as am I.
George Floyd’s horrific murder at the hand of a police officer has stirred something deep within most Americans, at at time when emotions are raw from economic depression, social isolation, and our worst fears about struggling to breathe due to Coronavirus are moving us to action is a deeply profound way.
Why is it that this incident in particular is striking such a deep nerve, and setting off passions and depth of reflection unlike other moments?
We know intellectually that these things happen All The Time. But, in other more recent viral police killing incidents, they involve gunfire which is quick, reactive, and in part the product of an amped-up, adrenaline-fueled situation. While equally unacceptable, it’s easier to somehow explain it away by blaming unconscious bias, lack of training, or implicit racial profiling. We can somehow rationalize the horror by imaging a cop being somehow afraid for his or her life in a high-stress situation and making a bad judgement call as a result of their bias. We may ashamedly, secretly, and privately relate to feeling tense or uneasy when walking home alone, late at night, and seeing a black man approaching in a hoodie. Or having moved up a train car when a group of black men got on. Or swiping “left” on dating apps for POC because maybe, we’re just not comfortable dating a non-white person. And while we know those feelings are wrong, they know there isn’t a hell of a lot of difference between those uncomfortable truths and a split-second decision of an officer with a gun.
But, as we all know, George Floyd’s death is different. Watching his suffering and the merciless officers crushing his organs and neck while he calls out for his mother has sickened us, and urged us to examine our hearts and worldview. It has called us to acknowledge and begin the work to cast out the “other” kind of racism deeply rooted in our guts — the kind that explains away snap judgements based on race persistent in our society.
Back in 1968 which was an other turning point for civil rights, a good number of Americans have had more traditionally-racist viewpoints. In 1968, racism was a lot easier to define and confront, because it was a pretty good litmus test of whether you thought there should be separate water fountains, or that interracial marriage should be legal. Being for “Equality” simply meant that you didn’t think outright discrimination was acceptable.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone openly admitting they have these views in modern times, which is unquestionably progress in the battle towards equality. Now, we are facing a much more daunting enemy, and that is systemic racism.
Systemic racism is much harder to confront, because it’s structured into every aspect of American life and there’s no one law, election, or individual who is responsible for it. It persists and festers unchecked in every corner of our world, and becomes exposed all too frequently during challenging times like the Coronavirus’s disproportionate affects on black Americans and the unemployment rates for black Americans dragging even during times of recovery.
Systematic racism creates the following juxtaposition: although there are undoubtedly fewer Americans in favor of segregated schools today than in 1968, American schools are actually more segregated today than in 1968.
How can this be?
Economic segregation, income and wealth inequality, and mass incarceration are just some of the building blocks in the past 50 years that have perpetuated the vicious cycle and we simply must address each of these issues as a comprehensive part of the current uprising.
While I am extremely supportive of conversations around policing reform, I believe we must broaden the conversation to bring economic injustice into focus as it is squarely at the root of systemic racism that leads to the brutality playing out on our streets.
Without addressing these issues, I fear we will measure this movement’s success at only having reformed our policing and while that is a critical aspect of equality and compounds systemic racism, our economic system badly needs an upgrade as well.
The good news: there are a number of policy reforms that are possible to implement quickly and do not compromise the American economy’s strength — we want the pie to be as big as possible so everyone’s slice is as big as it can be.
Here are just a few policy proposals that chip away at systemic racism by attacking it from the economic angle:
Property Tax Reform like repealing Prop 13
In a more overtly racist society like that of 1968 America, it may have felt like enough to consciously reject outright discrimination and segregation. And at that time, it would have been more radical, more daring, and anti-racist to do so. But this time, it’s different — we are facing a must different beast that lurks in every corner of our society, and convinces us that if we believe “all are created equal” in our heart, that is enough.
It’s not enough.
It’s not enough to claim to “not see color” or that there’s “only one race” or even worse, to convince yourself that because you had that one black friend from college that you must not be a part of the problem.
This moment demands us to dig deep to understand just how much systematic racism has gripped our hearts and minds and all the ways that America failed people like George Floyd before the final moment when it took his life.
