Racism Is Better Than Slavery
But Not By Much
A guy recently made a remark that caught me off guard. We were working next to each other and somehow the conversation prompted him to make the following statement.
“I think it is time,” he said, “that the black community got over slavery and got on with life.”
It was surprising for two reasons. We weren’t discussing racial issues so it seemed to come out of nowhere. And it was terribly off-center.
There was more to the conversation than that but somehow he thought the remark was related and appropriate.
To buttress the insult, he named several ethnic communities, all of whom had been enslaved and all of whom had done well after liberation.
He also prefaced his remark by affirming he was not a racist. I’m sure you’ve heard some version of:
I’m not a racist but………
To the average person on the street, that idea, which is partly true, gets traction. Other ethnic groups have been enslaved and yet today seem to be doing well in spite of it.
However, there are differences between the black community in America and other enslaved people groups and the differences are obvious. Those differences, however, though easily recognizable are for various reasons met with disinterest.
People just don’t care that the underlying feeling across the American landscape is that Blacks are somehow inferior. I call it a “feeling” because there is certainly no substance to the idea but it is as widespread as blueberry jam for breakfast.
Even my antagonist’s remark was motivated by the idea, although I doubt he realized it. Think about it. If in fact, the black community hasn’t gotten over slavery, how would you explain that? What is holding them back? What could explain their lack of development and over-incarceration?
There are only two possible answers. Either they have been marginalized by the surrounding culture or they are inferior. I would suggest it’s the former.
What I’ve learned while working shoulder to shoulder with black folks while living in the deep south and doing missionary work in a dominantly black community for over thirty-three years is this: whatever gifts, abilities, talents and potential you find in any group you find in every group and to the same extent. Those qualities are just as prevalent among blacks as they are anywhere.
If that is true, though, how do you explain the mindset of my antagonist. [Read more…] about Nooses, Abuses And Oppression Are Racism’s Favorite Tools
