RACISM part of American Democracy

Adolphus A. Ward on:
RACISM
AN INTEGRAL PART OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Some see racism as a moral issue. That is to say, they see it as being a matter of moral choice. They assume that one can simply choose to commit a racist act or not. They think of themselves and others as moral beings virtually incapable of committing an unconscious racist act. When a racist act is committed they see it as just a moral slip and not likely to happen again. They are more often unaware of the intrinsic influence that enables the repetition of racist choices. They go on, from day to day and act to act, living within the myth that they are completely in control of their moral choices.
Racism is an economic/political construct, not just a moral one. It is in fact a planned form of Disenfranchisement, in that it locks a particular group of citizens out of the benefits that flow from the collective wealth created by all citizens. Racism was created by those who had and still have the will and means to control economic and political power. That power enables them to skim and hoard the wealth that rises from the productivity of all American citizens. Far too many citizens have been and continue to be cheated out of their share of that wealth. Those with economic/political power have created our Democratic Republic with racism at the heart of its structure. The laws and enforcement agencies were shaped to ensure that the discovery, exploitation and distribution of scares resources remain in the hands of those in control of economic/political power.
The executive, legislative, judicial, and enforcement agents of this democracy that once sanctioned the use of black labor as capital are still in place. The voices in this democracy that now boast of pure Christian values as the foundation of this country cover their eyes, ears and minds against the lingering groans of black men chained to trees, eyes sewn open to see their wives and daughters raped, butchered, and their flesh fed to hogs. Black people still reel from the barbarism of a time still in memory. The level of trust and respect within the black family, particularly between the man and woman, is still struggling to find stable footing. Black men, in the eyes of too many women and children, have been publicly shown to be incapable of protecting and providing for them and therefore unnecessary. That legacy still lives in the pseudo-sanctuaries of our government, and the political/economic function of this nation.
Some gains were made when public lynching grew unsightly and distasteful enough to be outlawed. But a new kind of lynching, a more viral and insidious kind, was written into the laws of our country and enforced by court order. At first the new laws seemed to have some empathy for the sanctity of black life; but that turned out to be only an illusion: these were the laws of gradualism. The laws, in fact, were designed to kill in black people the thought of ever having a place in this democracy where they might find dignity and self respect. This democracy was designed and its political and social processes were constructed to create a hostile and toxic environment for black people. This Republic never intended for black people to call it their home. Black people were not to ever think that that was even possible. The Civil Rights Movement was never supposed to happen.
Racism is integral and essential to the continued ill being of this Republic. To envision this country without racism is to suppose that a dramatic conversion is possible. Perhaps the habits of a country can be compared to the habits of an individual. Just as some habits in the behavior of an individual are next to impossible to change, so too are some habits in the behavior of a country. Racism is an institutionalized behavior in this country. It is a habit that needs no forethought or conscious intent. It is present without anyone actually approving it. It is an integral part of our Republic and is as vital to us as the air we breathe.
Returning to the speculation that racism is an economic/political construct, and that there are those who have the power to acquire and exploit resources vital to human existence, it seems evident to me that racism remains a fact in this country because it aides the economic and politically powerful in maintaining that power.
To radically change the country's racist habits we would have to undergo a trauma well beyond 911. It would have to be overwhelmingly evident to those in power that racism played a major role in the savage trauma. Then there might be a will to root out racism. That will to change would have to become a conscious part of every individual and institution. Then and then only could the nation move toward open opportunity for all of its citizens. Then and then only would all of its human resources be fully employed in reshaping this nation. Then and then only would democracy flourish. Then and then only would we, as a country, have the right to hold ourselves up as the shinning light of Democratic Freedom. When the hoarders of capital wealth decide to equitably share the benefits of their exploitation, then and then only could every citizen prepare himself to earn a living any where in the global marketplace. A citizen could secure for his or herself and family good housing, good healthcare, and those good things they chose to make their lives wholesome. When the citizens of a nation are wholesome that nation is wholesome. We are a nation so full of promises yet we are sick. Racism is an unwholesome and contagious disease and our nation could inevitably die from the growing sickness.
Adolphus A. Ward
Copyright 2005