by Larry Adelman, California Newsreel | Month Unknown 2003
Many middle-class white people, especially those of us who grew up in the suburbs, like to think that we got to where we are today by virtue of our merit – hard work, intelligence, pluck, and maybe a little luck. And while we may be sympathetic to the plight of others, we close down when we hear the words “affirmative action” or “racial preferences.” We worked hard, we made it on our own, the thinking goes, why don’t ‘they’? After all, it’s been almost 40 years now since the Civil Rights Act was passed. What we don’t readily acknowledge is that racial preferences have a long, institutional history in this country – a white history. Here are a few ways in which government programs and practices have channeled wealth and opportunities to white people at the expense of others.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2000’s] [Slavery] [White Privilege] [History] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [Colorblindness] [Racial Covenants]
by Amy Traub, Laura Sullivan, Tatjana Meschede, Thomas Shapiro | February 2017
Issues of racial inequity are increasingly at the forefront of America’s public debate. In addition to urgent concerns about racial bias in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, activists highlight deeply connected issues of economic exclusion and inequality. No metric more powerfully captures the persistence and growth of economic inequality along racial and ethnic lines than the racial wealth gap. According to data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, the median white household possessed $13 in net wealth for every dollar held by the median black household in 2013. That same year, median white households possessed $10 for each dollar held by the median Latino/a household.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Colorblindness] [Economics] [White Privilege] [Systemic Racism] [Myths] [Racial Covenants]
by Shaun King | July 2016
Somehow, the United States of America wants to have all of the ingredients for murder and mayhem, cook it at 500 degrees for a few years, and be shocked when what comes out on the other end isn’t sweet peace and colorful rainbows. That’s not how recipes work. Building a harmonious society is no different.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [White Supremacy] [Slavery] [History] [Policing] [Denial] [Accountability] [Police Shootings] [Black Lives Matter]
by Evotte Dionne | August 2018
In this piece black feminist writer, editor, and critic Evette Dionne explains how many famous white people working for women’s suffrage were actually racist, too. The singular focus on Anthony and her white women peers, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Carrie Chapman Catt, seemed to echo the historical maligning of black women activists, writers, and thinkers who were integral to the women’s suffrage movement. While Anthony and Stanton are in history books — and will soon be on the $10 bill — their failure to check what many perceive as their racism worked against black women who were also denied access to the ballot box.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [History] [Silencing POC] [Politics] [White Supremacy]
by David Lowe | June 2016
In a society in denial, racism is proclaimed dead and an historical phenomenon. Yet it is very much alive, as manifested in the behavior of Black folk. In her book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, Dr. Joy DeGruy discusses the condition that serves as the title of her book in a video.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Slavery] [White Supremacy] [History] [Systemic Racism] [Black Lives Matter]
By Rabbi Shai Held | May 2017
Amidst all the carnage, you may have missed the story of Richard Collins. If so, you missed a story that we must not ignore: Richard Collins III, a young black man and a student at Bowie State University, was murdered after he refused to step aside to let a white student pass by.
TAGS: [Racial Terrorism] [2010’s] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [Accountability] [-ing While Black] [Black Lives Matter]
