The Racial Divide
When I was little my mom took me to the amusement park. The park had a pool and there was sign posted on the gate. I had just learned to read and realized that the sign said that minority children were not allowed in the pool. I turned to my mom and asked, "Don't they get hot and like to have a swim, too?" My mom had many faults but bigotry was not one of them. She explained prejudice as best she could to a 6 year old. The essence of that explanation was that some people are just stupid. I remain as baffled today by that as I was a child. I worked with the mentally retarded for a number of years and there was little prejudice among my charges. Clearly IQ is not the sole cause of racism.
You don''t see signs like that posted much anymore. But they're there. They've just been hidden under a facade of laws and political correctness. You can see them in our educational system where minority children are punished far more frequently and severely than Caucasians.
You can see the signs in law enforcement where profiling is still an issue. (Before any of my friends in law enforcement protest that they've never seen or done anything like that: Good for you! Congratulations for not being an asshole and for not ever having to work with any. But the problem exists and is well documented.)
You can see it in the countless shootings of people of color.
The signs are evident in real estate, mortgage lending, and insurance. Redlining still happens. It's just justified in some way that complies with the law. I've seen instances of this personally. I also heard and experienced the outrage when mixed race clients of mine moved into an all white neighborhood.
There is a racial divide in this country that is evident to anyone who can read and it's getting worse as best I can tell. Some things we can do:
Hire minorities and have a diverse work place.
Vote for politicians with a history of supporting civil rights.
Run for political office.
Protest peacefully when another egregious incident occurs - and it will
Speak out when you see or hear prejudice.
Other suggestions are welcome.
I know that most of the people who will read don't need this diatribe. They are fine folk who are good neighbors to everyone but I needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading. Now go and do something - anything! - that's more than liking or sharing a post on Facebook.
posted by Bart Freer @ 2:55 PM
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