I read this quote from a post that I feel is off the mark:
"Justice should be blind. In America, however, it is clearly color-conscious."
This common sentiment is, paradoxically, part of the problem when we look at the intersection of race and justice in the United States.
In February 1973, I was hired by the telephone company as a janitor. I was told plainly that people like me weren't hired for "technical" roles like Telephone Installer. At the time, that wasn't just a company policy; it was a systemic reality.
But 1973 was also the year of the landmark AT&T Consent Decree. After years of federal investigation into discriminatory hiring practices, the company agreed to stop blocking minorities and women from advancing. By November of that year, the "technical" door finally cracked open, and I was offered a transfer to become a Telephone Installer.
Today, people use terms like "Affirmative Action" or "DEI" (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) to imply that someone was a "charity hire" or "unqualified." They suggest that the position was "given" to us.
My career tells a different story.
In the world of economic propaganda, visual metaphors are powerful tools. One common illustration used to defend capitalism depicts a stark contrast: On one side, a worker fishes into a bucket, but a group of "collectivists" stands above him, their lines cast into his bucket to steal his catch. This is labeled "Socialism." On the other side, the worker stands alone, his bucket overflowing with the fruits of his own labor, undisturbed and prosperous.
On the night of July 17, 1944, a catastrophic explosion rocked the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California. What followed was a tragedy of immense scale, but it was also a watershed moment that exposed the deep-seated racism and systemic injustice that plagued the United States Navy. The Port Chicago incident is a searing story of loss, resistance, and the eventual, hard-won victory of desegregation – a victory born from the ashes of a preventable disaster and the courage of those who dared to stand against an unjust system.
We talk a lot about "policy" and "metrics" when we discuss Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. But if we strip away the corporate jargon, what we’re really talking about is the human longing to be seen, to be valued, and to have a fair shot at a good life.
When we lose sight of the heart behind these words, we lose sight of each other.
History is often made of grand speeches and battlefield victories, but sometimes, the most revolutionary acts happen at a dinner table.
In October 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt did something that hadn't been done before: he invited a Black man to dine as an equal at the White House.
That man was Booker T. Washington, the most influential African American leader of the era. While it sounds like a simple social engagement today, in 1901, it was an absolute political earthquake.
When we think of Vintage Vegas, we think of neon lights, high rollers, and the Rat Pack. But beneath the glitter of the 1950s sat a ugly reality: Las Vegas was known as the "Mississippi of the West." While Black icons like Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole were selling out showrooms, they were often forced to enter through hotel kitchens and sleep in segregated boarding houses across town.
Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834–1905) was a remarkable Aboriginal Tasmanian (Palawa) woman whose life and voice became the cornerstone for the survival of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture.
She is most famous for being the first Aboriginal person to have their voice recorded, providing the only known audio record of any original Tasmanian Aboriginal language.
The First Civil Rights Act (the Civil Rights Act of 1866) was a landmark piece of legislation intended to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people following the American Civil War. It was the first time Congress bypassed a presidential veto to pass a major law, asserting that all people born in the U.S. were citizens, regardless of race.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Act was designed to provide a legal foundation for the 13th Amendment. Its primary goals were:
* Granting Citizenship: It declared that all people born in the United States were citizens.
* Legal Equality: It guaranteed the right to make and enforce contracts, sue, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, or lease property.
In response to a post I made on Facebook where I made a reference to the attitude of white people and I received the following response:
"Not all white people....I was THRILLED, and most people I know felt the same...."
I then asked:
"Why is it that white people tend to deny they are part of the group identified as "white people"?"
And the following was shared:
"Adrian McKee because we don't like to be lumped together and mislabeled by stereotypical presumptions any more than any other group. Why do you find it necessary to continue to do to others what you say that you don't want others to do to you?"
My response:
