Reply to “Police officers AREN’T our friends”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]WTH is structural racism? There is racism and there is no racism. Structural racism sounds like racism but it’s no one’s fault you see. No one is accountable but you still get racism.

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Another term for this is "institutional racism" and I would argue that this was the type of racism that was ingrained in the structures or institutions of society. For example, in states that had segregation coded into law, you could be a non-racist waiter, but still not be permitted to serve a black person at a whites-only lunch counter. Or, you might be a minister who was totally fine with interracial marriage, but until 1967, you could not marry a white/black couple in the state of Virginia. These are examples of institutional or structural racism--the affects of which are still around today.

Another example...until middle of the 1950s, there were many law schools that did not admit blacks. So while their white counterparts might enjoy the privilege of having relatives or connections to friends of relatives who are alumnae of certain laws schools who can write them letters of reference to their alma mater, which in turn helped them to create more attorneys in the family...blacks did not have this opportunity. When you consider that the FIRST black law students were admitted in many of these schools in southern states only in the late 1950s, one can only imagine how low those numbers were and how long it would take to "catch up" to similar numbers of white attorneys. (And yes, I realize that not every white dude knows another white dude lawyer...but there's a reason that it's often referred to as an "old boys" network.) Does it mean that today's admissions officers or lawfirm partners are racist if they don't admit/hire the black candidate? No. But the "system/structure/institution" is stacked against this.)

FWIW, I think that the response to the recent murder in Minneapolis is actually cause for HOPE in this regard. If the system were condoning this, the cop/murderer would not have been arrested and charged. The DA is acting appropriately and is actively demonstrating against the city being structurally racist.[/quote]

In 2020 we are well past demolishing structural racism. Kudos to enormous strides. To say people feel discriminated against at this point because while no one is actually racist but it’s the “system’s” fault really points to unwillingness to accept accountability (perhaps not your own personal) but the accountability of someone who is actually racist and discriminated and maybe killed someone because their racism valued this person’s life less than another person. It sounds like you are making up excuses for some people to not have to change their behavior.[/quote]

If we had done away with structural racism, there would not be disparate outcomes based on race.  The same percentage of black people as whites would be poor.  The same percentage of black people as whites would own homes.  The same percentage of infants born to black mothers would survive as do those born to white mothers.   The same percentage would graduate from high school, from college, etc.   But we don't have that yet.   Either people of different races are inherently different (and that is an explicitly racist view), or there's something very unfair about how society treats people of different races (systemic racism).  [/quote]

I am the long-winded PP with the 1950s/60s examples and I see your point for sure but disagree that the structural racism is still standing. I just think it takes a LONG TIME to see the effects catch up once it is dismantled. Of course there are a higher percentage of poor blacks than poor whites b/c our "system" for helping out disadvantaged communities actually incentivized single mothers to not marry or remarry (huge misstep...whether intentional or unintentional, it actually prolonged the wealth gap b/c those children were then raised disproportionately in homes without fathers and wound up dropping out or on the streets rather than continuing with their education and getting good jobs). And most of what you describe in terms of differences (things like graduation rates and test outcomes, etc.) can be tracked back to poverty or no poverty. And again, when your ability to earn an income relies largely on your access to higher education degrees, and your admittance to higher education relies on test scores and your test scores rely on early reading/literacy exposure and your early reading/literacy exposure relies on prolonged one-on-one interaction with parent/caregiver--which is often determined by your socio-economic status...then it all comes back to poverty. The sooner we stop the cycle either at the top in access to higher education OR at the bottom with access to early literacy, the faster we will see the gap filling in in these areas.[/quote]

A critical issue is the effort on the part of the government to create and support a white middle class. The GI Bill disproportionately supported higher education for whites - which lead to middle class jobs. It provided low cost loans to whites, allowing them to buy homes — the most critical source of wealth for most families. Health insurance as a job benefit was provided with middle class jobs - which went primarily to whites.  Social security benefits were structured to disproportionately benefit whites — deliberately excluding the kinds of jobs that most blacks were allowed to hold. Legal segregation dictated where most blacks could live and go to school — and separate was not equal.  If these factors impacted your grandparents, they directly and indirectly impacted you and many of the opportunities you had — or did not have. I guess I don’t need to mention police brutality.

The primary point that I want to make here is that inequality and discrimination were sanctioned by the government for a very long time. And some of us are still waiting for things to change “with all deliberate speed.”

Ok, I’ll check back and see if OP has supported that “well past demolishing structural racism” assertion. I don’t see it myself, but I’m open to a well-supported argument. [/quote]

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