Systemic Racism

Michelle Obama's thoughts on the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action

Submitted by Adrian on

Michelle Obama's thoughts on the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action:

Back in college, I was one of the few Black students on my campus, and I was proud of getting into such a respected school. I knew I'd worked hard for it. But still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action. It was a shadow that students like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from the outside or inside our own minds.

Why are White People afraid of being referred to as White?

Submitted by Adrian on

I poster a question on Facebook:

Question?
Why are White People afraid of being referred to as White?
Please enlighten this Black man.

Here is one response to that question:

“I am not afraid. When you say that to me you are describing the color of my skin. Not my country of origin, my status in society or my moral values. It would seem that just because we describe someone's physical form we are not defining them. Am I missing something?”

This is a good place to start, in my opinion you are not missing anything.

Here is another response:

Those who see themselves as "Individuals" ARE White

Submitted by Adrian on

I posted this statement on Facebook:

People who have Race are Non-White, while people who don't have Race, (those who see themselves as "individuals") are White.

One of the responses I received was the following:

Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. -- ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

How can we help?

Submitted by Adrian on

From a Facebook post:

"How can we help? What should a politician take for a stance?"

First of all, "what should a politician take for a stance?" A politician should take the stance that it is WRONG. This would be a departure from blaming Black people for being the victims in a system that has set-out to victimize and exploit us (which has been the status quo). But politicians as a whole can not do anything about it except to lead us (I know, it's a novel thought).

"I Haven't Witnessed Racism in the Workplace"

Submitted by Adrian on

A comment on Facebook:

"I worked with people of color in every job I’ve had since the mid-80s, and I didn’t see or feel racism in those places, all of which were professional work areas. As every other employee in those companies were working with them too, and didn’t seem to have a problem with it, I hoped that racism in any area was becoming a thing of the past."

#BlackLivesMatter versus #AllLivesMatter and Gaslighting/Diverting

Submitted by Adrian on

This conversation started out as a discussion involving #BlackLivesMatter versus #AllLivesMatter.  Of course I have my own thoughts about this subject but that is not what this post is about. There was a comment that was voiced that has started getting under my skin a lot lately, and that is of people making “canned” comments whose sole purpose is to deflect from the real subject.  

There was talk about [unarmed] young Black men being killed by the police.  The next comment was:
“More young black men are killed by other young black men than police. By a very wide margin.”