The Status Quo: A different perspective…
Michael K.
Senior System Acquisition Specialist - Electronic Warfare Systems at Koniag Government Services
The Civil Rights movement in the United States began in 1948 and was actively occurring until 1968. Twenty years of organized, and sometimes disorganized random, civil unrest. I guess the part that is so opposite of what is occurring today, is there isn’t a lot of ‘civil’ this time. Sure, there are pockets of it and good people trying to protest… peacefully… civilly. There are a ton of folks who aren’t being that nice. However, this is about another point…
In my mind, the intent of the Civil Rights Movement was to abolish the prejudices found in this country. Those prejudices which were surviving long after the Civil War. You can’t look at the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old accused of “Flirting” with a white woman in 1948, as a normal part of our justice system. I could go on with story after story, but even that is not the point of this…
By the time the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. got involved in 1957, there were legitimate talks between community leaders and elected officials. There was a billowing deafness on the elected official’s part when it came to listening to the grievances and acting upon them. When President Eisenhower signed the “Civil Rights Act of 1957” the only thing it did was to protect a black man’s voting rights. Even though it was law, it really didn’t change much from what I can tell. Things didn’t change a lot from there until the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, just days before the “Civil Rights Act of 1968” was signed by President Johnson. Also known as the “Fair Housing Act”, it too didn’t really address the blatant racism boiling in the United States. The death of Martin Luther King Jr effectively ended the “Civil Rights Movement”. I said the movement effectively ended, but did it end the need for the movement? This brings us closer to the point…
From the end of the “Civil Rights Movement” until now, this Nation has lived through many different programs, designed to reduce, limit, and eradicate the racism flowing through the veins of citizens. From a high-level over watch, it appeared to be working. Racist vernacular started to decline. Insensitive jokes became taboo. The entire scope of racist behaviors dwindled to the point it was shocking when it was witnessed. Yet even this was superficial at best. The racism began to simmer in the background, less visible, but still there. I know, get to the point… right!?
So what did happen to all of the racism in the United States? Was it stamped out it in some un-celebrated march of all the citizens turning in their hatred for love? In my observations, nope, not at all. In my view, the tenets of racism were driven into the bowels of the most rotten among us. It festered in the sewer pits of America’s worst. Some of these individuals donned many different “uniforms”. Some from every aspect of society. Patients who won’t go to “THAT” Doctor. Cops who treat “THAT” man differently. The old lady in the corner who wants “THAT” person to stop talking in “THAT” language. The purse clutched a bit tighter when “THAT” man gets near. The hushed whispers and finger pointing of men when “THOSE” boys head out on the playground.
Racism has not been eradicated. It has not been stamped into oblivion. Racism in the United States is alive and well in the darkest recesses of our society. It festers there, critically injuring some of the finest individuals you’d ever have the opportunity to meet. It strikes at the most innocent within our midst, hitting even the youngest of our citizens. We collectively say “THEY” are our Brothers and Sisters, but do we really mean it? I think it is time to hold ourselves a bit more accountable for what is truly going on in our society. We can all do a bit more. We can speak out when those little boiling points of racism bubble to the surface. We can demand our politicians strike a blow at laws which protect those in public service who are so blatantly guilty of racist behaviors. Abolish legal trickery like the “Qualified Immunity” doctrine. One more thing… let’s be a bit “SILENT” when we’re trying to “LISTEN” to those of us who are experts in the field of “Living as a Minority in the Undercurrent of Racism”. They’ve lived a fear their entire life which this Nation and its Constitution are supposed to be protecting them from. Let’s make “THAT” count.
I’ve heard many people ask why there is no “White Heritage Month”. Hell, I’m guilty of that one myself. I asked for some help on this subject and a very good friend explained how certain holiday events applied to one segment of society and not the others. One of the most striking examples was the fact that the U.S. Independence Day (4th of July 1776) did not celebrate everyone’s Independence. Maybe it’s time we look at the litany of holidays celebrated in the United States and ask ourselves how they relate to the black community. I’m not asking if the black community participates, who wouldn’t want a day off work. I’m asking how these holidays represent the black culture. If we are to truly eradicate racism there are things which must be accomplished. A recognition that for the black community, there is a different date to celebrate their achieving independence or best described as a liberation. Freedom, for the black community, was gained when the Emancipation Proclamation was read and enforced in Texas, the last state to enact it (19 June 1865). After many hours of self-reflection and analytical thinking, I’ve arrived at a different perspective… What if all those month long cultural “Heritage” celebrations were the largest perpetration of a public apology ever devised? Could the months of African-American History, Indian Heritage, Pacific Heritage, and Hispanic Heritage months (among others) be just one huge “We’re sorry for the way you were treated” orchestrated by mostly white Senators, Representatives, and signed into law by white Presidents??
One final note to this long diatribe of feelings and observations… I have maintained for many years and I think I’m not alone: There are no absolutes, no 100 percent of anything in life. There is no certain “you are” or “you are not”. If we choose to say racism is just a few, aren’t we denying what it really is? Can we actually state it is only one or two racist people and then blame an entire segment of society for a “systemic” issue? In my view, racism is a river flowing in the undercurrents of society. There are areas of the United States where it is just a trickle and there are areas where this is a raging flow. Not all cops are bad. Not all doctors are good. I’ve had the honor of meeting some of America’s finest people. People from every race, culture, and from every state. We, as a collective and combined culture, need to work together to stem the flow, dry the rivers of tears and heal. It won’t be easy. It won’t be painless. It will be amazing if we stick together and pull this off.
This is a perspective and it’s designed to make you pause and ponder.
(C) Michael Kelley, June 2020
Author-Speaker- Performance Evaluator - Researcher- Behavior Modification - Healthy Food Mindset-Coaching
4 年Michael K. As I read your article, I am almost in tears. I was not born in this country. I am a naturalized citizen. I have taken the time to understand the life from the perspective of African Americans. I have seen what prejudice toward one skin color can do to a whole generation. It’s painful and it became more real to me when my family members one of after another were victims too. My husband, myself, my sons and daughter have had to deal with it. I rejoice every time that I meet a Caucasian who understands, who sees and understands , and expresses sympathy. I like to look at all this from the Biblical perspective. It’s a sin problem, God is against #prejudice, #discrimination, #oppression, and all kinds of #injustices. In my country there is #tribalism because we are many tribes. But nobody makes you feel like you are lower than an animal. Nobody makes you feel less than. So it feels very strange when we experience it here. But I have hope that the Greatest Evaluator of all things will judge someday. Were it not for that hope, many of us will live total despair.
Real Estate Consultant
4 年Michael K. Thank you. Don't ask a white person what it's like to live in America? Let's ask a Black person or an Asian or an Indigenous Aboriginal in Australia. Why?? Because only they can truly tell you first hand what their experience of racism is really like. With the long history of racism which you talk about in your article, it's easy to see where this prejudice has not only come from, but why it hasn't been abolished. This prejudice descends from one generation to the next in families who have not gone against the grain and said, this is WRONG. It takes courage to put your foot down and say enough is enough! Humans want to fit in, we all want to fit in and have a right to do so, no matter what your colour is. We have a right to be treated with equal respect and given the benefit of the doubt. #Fear contributes to racist behaviour and by educating these racist individuals in society, things may change. With heightened awareness and a more stringent selection process for people in law and order, we may see improvement. George Floyd would have lived if the other officers had stepped in. Staying quiet contributes to some of the most horrific crimes.To care is to take action against the racism that does exist today.