Duplicity
I guess that I have had enough of folks, black, white, and Latinx focusing on issues other than racism and white nationalism in efforts to understand this election. This was never about the economy. This was to some degree about Covid, despite the fact that Trump supporters cared about as much about this killer as did their God, Trump. I ask you, what would make poor and working class white people vote against their own economic and health self interests? What is that powerful? RACISM. Almost half of the voters in this nation cared more about their racism than about their health or pocketbooks!
Racism is the belief that one race (group) of people is inherently superior to another. In much of the world, it is the belief that white people are inherently superior to black people. They believe this in Mexico, in Cuba, in the Dominican Republic, in Germany, and in the United States. It is not discrimination! If it were, we would not need different words for the two things. Yet, many folks think that discrimination is racism. Since few white folks are in positions to discriminate against black people, they assert that they are not racists. They are wrong!
Racism is ingrained in the very fabric of America. From our definition of beauty, to our notions of value. Americans have bent over backward to insure that white people are on top and black people are on the bottom. We “reserved” the quarterback and point guard positions in sport for “intelligent” athletes, that is, white athletes. Same with the pitchers in baseball. Same with CEO’s of major companies. Same with higher elected office. We cheated, we lied, we pushed to make sure that white folks always came out on top. Then, they did not!
Along came Oscar Robinson and Magic Johnson. Along came Richard Parsons, and Satchel Paige. Jesse Norman and Russell Wilson. Ulysses Dove and Ken Chenault. Then, drum roll, along came Barack Obama! My God, the highest position in the land was occupied by a black man. Racist white folks had their world shattered. Not only did black people dominate sports, the arts and made major inroads in business, even after all of their efforts to avoid that. No, we also were at the very top of the heap in politics. Did I mention that the Chairman of the Board of American Express was for a long time a black man? Sorry, Mr. Chenault.
Many white folks just cannot deal with the reality that they are not inherently superior to black people. Republicans have taken advantage of this reality. They were for limited government, until they were not. They were for balanced budgets. Until they were not. All they are for is helping the wealthy folks who fund their campaigns, and catering to the racists who supply their votes.
There are black folks who believe that they are inherently inferior to white folks. Are you listening Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson? Or the just insanely large number of self hating black men who voted for that openly racist, inept, white nationalist, ego maniacal, sexist, xenophobic, pathological liar named Trump? When the subject of racism, in this case black people, believe that they are inherently inferior, they come to hate themselves and all who are like them for their inferiority. Since most black people in America learn the same things in the same ways that white people learn them, some black people, perhaps many, accept their inferiority. But, self hatred is destructive to the psyche. So, many black people “unlearn’ it. By the way, so too do many white people.
Yes, this nation is divided, but the divide is not about culture or economics. It is not about policy or religion (how can you be a Christian and judge others every day, or root for the wealthy who have as much a chance of getting into Heaven as a camel does getting through the eye of a needle?) No, it is and always was about race and racism. It is more about those “original sins” than ever simply because a lot of white folks are terrified that their whiteness no longer insures their success. I want to write “sorry”, but I am a Christian, so I will not lie.