Unarmed, bound, black man George Floyd was murdered wide openly while other policemen watched. Sadly there is much racism , treating people of color different under the law, in our world. The law has not given dark skin persons the same protections as the fair skinned.
I think there is little question that these things are far more likely to happen to persons with dark skin. There is still embedded in white America that black persons do not deserve equal treatment by the law. Somehow they are not equally valued when the rubber meets the road.
White persons have long often vented their own frustrations on to dark skinned people. It's as if we think they should not be here. They are in our way, not fellow equal contributing citizens. We call in troops when rioters threaten violence . When will we call in highest public forces to stop routine violence and injustice against people of color? Our weak responses are quite irrational and usually come from the strong emotional dark core of our political/social/legal systems.
I too Cindy wish it weren't so. I know Black parents have to teach their children to not expect equal treatment. They have to live daily knowing that and being more careful than a white person has to ever consider.
I think we'd all do better to not say , " I'm not racist" . I know as a child of the segregated South that I'm far less racist than I once was. But it is unusual to be white in America and not carry some racism that can surface any moment in us. Our strong insistance we are not often shows that we do not face it.
We'd make more progress if we could consider ourselves somewhere on a scale of racism. At one end actual hating, abusing and hurting others and the other where we are unwilling to acknowledge the problem and to go on record with others as standing against it when it happens. And failing to always sadly hope we can help end it.
Its our American original sin that has yet to be set aside in how the law on the street works. Sad. :(
I think there is little question that these things are far more likely to happen to persons with dark skin. There is still embedded in white America that black persons do not deserve equal treatment by the law. Somehow they are not equally valued when the rubber meets the road.
White persons have long often vented their own frustrations on to dark skinned people. It's as if we think they should not be here. They are in our way, not fellow equal contributing citizens. We call in troops when rioters threaten violence . When will we call in highest public forces to stop routine violence and injustice against people of color? Our weak responses are quite irrational and usually come from the strong emotional dark core of our political/social/legal systems.
I too Cindy wish it weren't so. I know Black parents have to teach their children to not expect equal treatment. They have to live daily knowing that and being more careful than a white person has to ever consider.
I think we'd all do better to not say , " I'm not racist" . I know as a child of the segregated South that I'm far less racist than I once was. But it is unusual to be white in America and not carry some racism that can surface any moment in us. Our strong insistance we are not often shows that we do not face it.
We'd make more progress if we could consider ourselves somewhere on a scale of racism. At one end actual hating, abusing and hurting others and the other where we are unwilling to acknowledge the problem and to go on record with others as standing against it when it happens. And failing to always sadly hope we can help end it.
Its our American original sin that has yet to be set aside in how the law on the street works. Sad. :(
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