"Racism still alive, they just be concealin' it". Kanye West said this back in 2004 on his debut album The College Dropout. Since then time and again both White and Black people will agree that there is still racism in the United States. However it has become more difficult for all people to see incidents of racism. Where one sees racism, another may see an individual's poor decision. Gone are the days where all reasonable people regardless of race could look at a situation objectively and collectively conclude the racism present. Today some see racism others see unfortunate happenstance.
The apparent evidence of this can be seen in the rebuilding of New Orleans. With the Superdome having hosted two seasons worth of NFL games, and the New Orleans Arena been the home for the 2008 NBA All-Star game, some may feel that the city is back up on its feet. However, if you look closely you will see that only a certain section of the city is doing well. A vast part of the residential sections including the Lower Ninth Ward is still in shambles and goes largely unmentioned by mainstream national press. Even still, nearly four years after the hurricane colleges still organize alternative spring break trips down to New Orleans to help rebuild the large parts of the city that is has been neglected. Many of the lower to moderate income African-American residents who moved to places like Atlanta and Houston have not come back. The city is repopulating with middle and upper income Whites.
This is racism for the 21st century. The United States no longer bears witness to Jim Crow. Instead the country watches his son James Crow Esquire run amok. This new racism can be seen across the country. In Jena, Louisiana six African-American boys faced adult charges after several fights involving both Black and White students. In one of the fights a White boy brought a gun into the fight. That student was disarmed and beaten yet the only charges stemming from that incident were levied against the Black boys. James Crow Esquire no longer needs racist cops to hose down African Americans in the street, he no longer props up governors who will stand in the doorway to the state colleges and universities. Instead James Crow Esquire uses the subjectivity of the criminal justice (or lack thereof) system and the stinging effects of gentrification.
Another masterful trick created by James Crow Esquire is that the racism present in the United States is no longer executed by individuals on a person to person basis. Rather this new racism is institutional. With this being institutional, people and groups of people are now allowed to absolve themselves from any wrongdoing because it is not them the individuals doing anything wrong. The best examples of this lie in the numbers.The national high school graduation rate is about 80%. White American graduate high school at a rate of about 82%. As of today only 53% of African-Americans graduate high school. That means nearly half the African American students in this country do not graduate high school. This number alone should appal people. Keeping in mind the United States is no longer a place that manufactures a lot of its products, people without education or skills training cannot be expected to provide for themselves. More evidence of James Crow Esquire at work is the research done by the Center for Responsible Lending. They found that African Americans with fair to good credit and middle to upper middle incomes were still more than 35% more likely to be subject to predatory lending than their White counterpart.
What we are finding here is that the United States is invariably tied to the subjective criminal justice system, the inconsistent and faulty education system and the subjective lending and financial institutions. Numbers show that these institutions are now carrying out the racism that individuals carried out decades ago. Sadly good hearted people with the best of intentions find themselves working in and for these institutions that are perpetrating these atrocities against Black and Brown people in the United States. Individually they may see themselves as simply doing their job, but their job is the product of James Crow Esquire. Here in the 21st century racism is indeed still alive and its legacy is being preserved by the more crafty intelligent son of Jim Crow, James Crow Esquire.
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6 comments:
Thank you for keeping many people enlightened brother, because many people feel as if racism is non-existent in the 21st century especially with our 44th president, Barack Obama, being black. This is obviously not the case, as you mentioned. Racism just in a different form. Sadly, this ignorance seems to be more prevalent in the upcoming African-American generation, who are particularly college students that made it through high school. However what is unfortunate, is that the percentage that do make it through college and go on to pursue their careers differentiate themselves from their unfortunate brothers and sisters that didn't make it. They usually tend to uphold the idea that "If I made it, there isn't any reason why they can't make it" or "this country offers so much anybody can make it!" As beautiful as that may sound, and as much as we all want that to be true, statistically speaking that is a farce! Statistically speaking, what is true is that African-Americans are less likely to become successful and are more likely to be incarcerated, uneducated, and always trying to find a way to just breathe day by day in this country we call the United States of America. If we continue to differentiate ourselves from one another, all we are doing is perpetuating this vicious cycle. We must be vigilant and be unified in order to break this system because James Crow Esquire is far more subtle than his predecessor, Jim Crow; therefore we must be prudent in judgment and tenacious in action.
I certainly agree my brother Ray. Things are subtle when it comes to racism, but we must educate ourselves on the new face of this horrible and vicious enemy. Continue to enlighten us with your knowledge of other ways racism can be seen and identified. Even us light skinned brothers have issues - a whole set of other issues when it comes to racism. God bless and looking forward to the next post.
Racism is indeed alive and well. WE know that. THEY (often) don’t. The fact that we have an African American President shows me that we’re making progress; the rest of the statistics show that there’s much work left to do.
The high school graduation rates are shocking and indicative to me of not only the failure of our African American and Latino children by the system, but of their parents, too. From my work in the elementary school system, I see our children being failed early in their educational pursuits which almost guarantees their future educational failure. You work with what you got and if what you got ain’t shit, well…
We as a country need to stop being polite and start getting real. Acknowledge there’s a problem and then work on a solution. Sticking one’s head in the sand only results in eventual suffocation and benefits no one. Thank you for doing your part in bringing what’s been done in the dark into the light. Can’t wait for your next post.
"Instead James Crow Esquire uses the subjectivity of the criminal justice (or lack thereof) system and the stinging effects of gentrification."
I truly think that this post is right on time. We're currently living in a society that believes we are "post-race" when we are far from it. In fact, the institutional racism that you focus on in this discussion is moreso racist than than the historical open displays that people are more familiar with and, therefore are more prone to associate with racism. Because racism, by definition, is a "system of advantage based on race," institutional racism is the most impactful manifestation of it. Institutional racism enforces more power and control over the Black race than any hosing-down or street beating ever could because it infiltrates every aspect of most Black people's lives to the point that they have simply adjusted to it and accepted it as a part of their lives and as an inevitable fate.
Sadly, many Black people do not even know they're subject to this and are complete unaware of it. On the other hand, the many afflications our race is plagued by provides evidence that a lot of us are so aware that we suffer from depression and are seeking various unhealthy means to cope. Thank you for this commentary.
I hope a lot of people read and internalize this message. Even further, I hope more Black people, in turn, strive to attain more decision-making positions so that they can doing something about the policies and infastructure of the many oppressive systems that are set in place, threatening to impose upon the lives of our children.
Mr. Baker,
The basic premise of your contention that Jim Crow has fathered a more sophisticated, guileful, oppressive offspring is a prime example of why there is still such a disparity between ethnic groups. You have invented an oppressor. Not only have you invented one, you have given him more power than his father could have ever dreamed. If I am to buy into this idea of James Crow Esq., I would have to say it is an absolutely brilliant piece of work on the part of this odious, albeit beguiling despot. He does not have to do a thing but sit back and wait to have power bestowed upon him by you. You have accepted that there is someone with greater power than anyone in your entire ethnic group. That despite all of the efforts made by those that share your heritage, he will always be superior. All of the work, the blood, the tears, the marches by those that came before you, was in vain. All they fought for led to the creation of an even greater evil.
Webster defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and those racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Check that part of the definition again, “racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race”. It’s evident that you believe that to be true - in favor of Caucasians.
It would seem that as a people (at least based on this blog) we fear success, we fear equality, and ultimately we fear Dr. King’s dream. By maintaining this mythical image of an oppressive potentate, we are allowed the freedom of failure and to be victimized. With the ominous shadow of “James Crow Esq.” looming, we have a reason for low social standing and lack of success.
I grew up in the projects of Brooklyn, NY and went to high school in some of the worst neighborhoods in Duval County. I assure you there were no Caucasians throwing trash on the floor, urinating in the hallways or bucking off shots in the middle of the night. I refuse to accept the idea that there is collusion among the Caucasian population in this country to devise this system of self-destruction throughout our community. I would never concede that kind of power to anyone, real or imagined.
I am not dismissing the notion that racism is still alive and in some communities it thrives but to believe it dictates my ability to be productive, successful and honorable would be an insult to my integrity. It’s an insult to everyone that actually went through the struggle for equality. After all of the achievements made by our people each success is still met with “This does not mean that things are better”, “This does not mean things are equal”. This hollow rhetoric sounds like self-loathing and a gross lack of appreciation. Let’s have a look at some of the success:
* President of the United States of America – Barak Obama
* Joint Chief of Staff/Secretary of State* - Colin Powell
* National Security Advisor/Secretary of State* – Dr. Condoleezza Rice
* Chairman of the Republican National Committee* – Michael Steele
* Attorney General – Eric Holder
* Biggest TV personality – Oprah Winfrey
* Biggest sports star – Tiger Woods
* Biggest actor – Will Smith
* Pepsi Co CEO – Indra Nooyi
* Former CEO of Fannie Mae – Franklin Delano Raines
* Board of Directors for Coca Cola – Alexis M. Herman, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Donald F. McHenry
*1st African American to achieve this position.
This is just a small example. As you can tell I did not get into the deep history of inventors, musicians, politicians. All of these examples are of modern times.
It is a wonder to me how we can claim Caucasians are responsible for the subtle, but deeply impactful racism that occurs today yet look to Caucasians in politics to help fight it. You must take the time to understand what Dr. King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) wanted…equality. They did not seek help or handouts. They did not want to be dependent; they wanted to be independent. They looked to no entity to lift them up. They looked to themselves and the people they were leading. Let’s look to ourselves now.
* 70% out of wedlock birthrate
* 1 in 4 African American men will die at the hands of another African American man
* Life expectancy for Black males is 65.2 years, for White males 72.2 years.
* Black men in inner-city neighborhoods are less likely to reach the age of 65 than men in Bangladesh, one of the poorest nations in the world
* Homicide is the leading cause of death for Black males ages 15 to 24. The homicide rate for Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 is six times higher than the rate for the rest of the population that age.
* Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young Black males
* 40% of young Black men in big cities do not graduate from high school.
These statistics are from a USA Today study.
Now is the time to provide solutions as opposed to continuing to identify “the cause” of the African American plight. You do realize that there will never be total capitulation between racists and those they abhor, right? There will always be prejudice, racism, bigotry and the like but for how long do you allow it to control you or effect you?
Jewish people provide a great example. They are the most persecuted people in the history of the world. They were slaughtered by the Moors, enslaved by the Egyptians, nearly eradicated by the Nazis and degraded by white supremacists. However, I have not read a blog or article nor have I seen a Jewish leader declare that the current position of the Jewish people was due to Adolph Hitler PhD. They also have not sought reparations from Africans in general or Egyptians specifically.
Suppose James Crow Esq. is running amuck, what do you propose to do about it?
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