HAS BEING WHITE EVER BEEN GOOD?

If race was invented to justify exploiting other people then being white has never been good. I have listened to a radio podcast "Scene on Radio" called "Seeing White" that discusses the history of being white including how it was started and what has kept it alive for over 400 years. One of the speakers on the podcast asked the question about whether "being white has ever been good." Considering the terrible exploitation of people of color by whites over these 400 years it seems clear that being white is not good. It is also clear that institutional racism is alive and well in maintaining: the gap in income; home ownership; jobs; incarceration rate; and neighborhoods [home values]. 

It seems clear that race was created inorder to justify exploitation of people of color starting before we became a country and yet was justified in our constitution and by our founding [white] fathers. So, from the beginning the idea that we as a country are told that we believe that we are all created equal is not true. A significant percent of our population has not been treated as equal and this is still happening, sadly. 

It is my hope that our country will choose to reject racism and white priviledge, while moving toward racial and economic equality for everyone. If this happens we might then be able to call our country great.

IT IS ALL ABOUT EXPLOITATION?

Exploitation is defined as the fact of or action taken to treat someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work. Or, to selfishly take advantage of a person or persons in order to profit from them or otherwise benefit yourself. So, is every bad thing humans do related to or involve exploitation? Racism seems to be all about exploitation. Does prejudice involve exploitation as being prejudiced means that you are demeaning others and this makes it easier to justify taking advantage of them? How about corporations externalizing their costs [not taking responsibility for costs of damage to the environment, as well as paying low wages so employees require federal assistance to get by, etc.]? What about our banking systems making it harder for people of color to get loans or charging them higher interest rates? How about making it harder for certain groups of people to vote or to get an education? What about using God to justify white priviledge? What about killing and incarcerating certain groups of people at a much higher rate compared to other people.

So, why do we [humans] seem to like to or need to exploit others? I believe that we know in our hearts that exploiting others is not right. So, somehow, together, we must choose to learn how to get along with others and not exploit them. How do we do that?

THE NEW THREAT: RACISM WITHOUT RACISTS

A CNN article from November 27, 2014 by John Blake speaks about the problem of racism without racists. This concern has been around for years as people who are not overtly racist unintentionally support racist institutions that promote ongoing exploitation of African Americans. It is only more recently that more Americans have become aware of institutional racism and it's ongoing impact as it perpetuates exploitation of African Americans. So, you can be against different ways that African American's are mistreated [police brutality, unfairly imprisoned; blocked from access to home loans and neighborhoods] and still miss the point of how wide spread the influence of white supremacy is. Blake quotes Eduardo Bonilla-Silva who has written a book entitled: Racism Without Racists. Mr. Bonilla-Silva goes on to say that three phrases frequently come up in discussions between whites and blacks.  These phrases have to do with: being "color blind"; having black friends; and defending yourself by stating that you don't act in a racist manner. Responding to being color blind, this is only possible because you are white and do not need to live with the exploitation that all African Americans experience. This also relates to the response to black lives matter stating that all lives matter. Again, whites can pretend that all lives matter because they don't have to worry about being shot jogging in their neighborhood or automatically being treated as inferior or even dangerous. All lives can matter when black lives actually matter and not before. Finally, white people can feel that they are not racist as they have black friends. Having black friends really has nothing to do with institutional racism and other indications of white supremacy [priviledge]. Finally, protesting your innocence regarding racist behaviors misses the point of tolerating institutional racism.

I believe that to become non-racists we, as whites, need to begin the process of dismantling institutional racism. 

What do you think? 

NO ONE'S COMING TO SAVE US

I was reading an opinion piece in the May 31, 2020 Sunday Review by Roxane Gay who reviewed all the bad things happening recently with many in our government continuing to not take responsibility for facing the truth of what is happening and then helping us to safely get through it. Ms. Gay then focused on racism and how the truth of institutional racism and exploitation is still frequently denied and yet many people of color still hope for a cure for racism. That is when Ms. Gay concluded that "no one's coming to save us." I then realized that "no one is coming to save any of us" and that we should be thankful. When anyone else "saves" me, you or anybody else, it never works out very well. We are the only one's who can save ourselves. 

So what is saving ourselves? Is it speaking our truth and being willing to stand by it and uphold it as we believe in it? What if no one else speaks their truth and thereby supports your efforts to remain true to your truth. Well then you will have to go it alone, believing that others will support you in tiime. Enough voices and actions can change things. Black lives do matter and it is wrong that our country has acted like they don't for hundreds of years. Before, if there was a recognition of the fact that black lives do matter, it was with a defensive position that all lives matter.  

What I believe is recognized now more than ever is that until black lives actually matter, no lives really matter.  We can only value our own lives if we value all others. This seems to be true. This reminds me of a political slogan about making America great again. That saddens me as it doesn't recognize that America has never been great because of our exploitation of African Americans and Native Americans. To go back would be to return to justify acting like black lives don't matter as exploitation would be continued. What encourages me is seeing the response by young people to the recent protests related to police violence towards African Americans. It seems like more and more Americans are actually choosing to believe and act like black lives matter. This gives me hope that America can be great [better] for the first time when we choose to act like, and live our lives like, all people actually matter.

LIFE DURING AND AFTER THE VIRUS

Well, we are all having to cope with the changes and uncertainty that this pandemic has presented to us. Many of us have had to make extraordinary sacrifices as we have given up our jobs and businesses as we cooperated with self-quarantining, thus reducing our interactions with each other as we avoid contact and when we had to have some interactions we kept six feet apart and even put on masks for further protection. It seems like a lot to expect of people and yet they [we] are responding and taking responsibility for following directions and maintaining safety. Who would have predicted this level of cooperation. Maybe you don't feel like there is a lot of cooperation but there does not appear to be coersion, either. So, does this mean that if we are all facing the same threat we will join with each other and face this threat together? Does this mean that previously percieved differences between us and others are no longer important or do the differences actually seem to disappear?

The pandemic gives each of us the opportunity to choose to be present as we become accountable to ourselves, and each other, as we follow the guidelines that keep each other safe by choosing to wear masks to protect others...strangers even. Isn't it true that by wearing a mask we are acknowledging our connection to everyone else? Can this then lead to a feeling of contentment and even the possibility of a feeling of joy?

I am also sadly reminded that the worst "pandemics" we have faced over the centuries are not from viruses, but from tyrannical rulers who have infected millions so that they will choose to kill each other in wars as these rulers promote our seeing the world as an "us against them" place. In contrast, the viral pandemic can help us see that we are linked with each other and not against each other. Maybe we can choose to have the feeling that we are connected to each other endure after the pandemic is over.

What do you think?