The Resurgence of Racism

Is Being Anti Woke Overt Racism?

To be "woke" politically in the Black community means that someone is informed, educated and conscious of social injustice and racial inequality, Merriam-Webster Dictionary states.

In the LGBTQ community it is a movement advocating for the equal treatment and elimination of discriminatory policies hurting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, according to Britannica.

Disability Studies emphasizes that disability is not solely a medical condition but a social construct influenced by the environment and societal attitudes. This perspective focuses on removing barriers and promoting inclusivity.

Woke feminism is a movement against the oppressive patriarchy and not against the community of men. Later on, as people from around the world modified and molded this term and its motto in their own convenient ways, it became a worldwide rage against men. But please, do not ignore issues of women's health, the glass ceiling, the right to vote, and abuse.

And what does the civil right act say? The act that Trump is trying to dismantle?

In simple terms, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended discrimination in the US based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibited discrimination in public places, employment, and voting, and also outlawed segregation in schools. This landmark legislation aimed to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all Americans, according to the National Archives (.gov).

The Definition

Racism is the belief that one race is superior, or inferior, to another, and that certain social and intellectual traits – such as personality, behavior, intelligence, and morals – are pre-determined based on one’s race or biological characteristics. These biases may be conscious or unconscious.

In the workplace, racism can take on many forms. It can manifest as deliberate, subtle, or even unintentional acts of discrimination because of a person’s race. These acts may take the form of stereotyping, “othering,” or avoidance.

Hiring or promoting someone based on the assumption they are better at math because they are Asian.

Complimenting a US-born Latino on how well she speaks English.

Asking a black person how he got promoted, implying he was selected based on his race – and not his intelligence, experience, or competency.

Assuming someone is not trustworthy because of their race.

Racism should never be tolerated or ignored. You have a responsibility to prevent and speak up against racism and maintain a workplace free from any form of racism, harassment, or discrimination.

The Civil Rights Act has the noblest of intentions. It's an attempt to put the institutions of slavery and Jim Crow behind us. It is there to stop and say, "no wait, bias is wrong." Those who oppose the act would take away the rights from large groups of Americans. Freedoms of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and petition. Additionally, the right to bear arms, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to a fair trial are fundamental, and they are codified in the Constitution. The Meritocracy will only award those rights to those they say qualify, white men who think like they do.

Don't believe it?

After the mid air collision between the Army helicopter and airliner in January, president Donald Trump suggested without evidence that the deadly midair collision of two aircraft in Washington was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration's efforts to hire a more diverse workforce, according to Reuters.

Trump leveled the accusation at a White House press conference called to update Americans on the Wednesday night crash in which a passenger jet about to land at Reagan National Airport collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight.

The implication is that women, people of color, and people with different cultural heritages are inherently inferior to white men, and anybody in any of those groups are the proximate cause of this tragedy or any other in this country.

Epilog

“As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
― Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Letters

We Belong Together

Interconnected

"Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another."

- Yuri Kochiyama

Yuri Kochiyama was a lifelong champion of civil rights causes in the black, Latino, Native American and Asian-American communities. According to NPR, months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she and her family were forced to relocate to internment camps along with tens of thousands of other Japanese-Americans. After World War II she and her husband, Bill, and moved to start their family in New York City. Living in housing projects among black and Puerto Rican neighbors inspired her interest in the civil rights movement. Kochiyama held weekly open houses for activists in the family's apartment, where she taped newspaper clippings to the walls and kept piles of leaflets on the kitchen table. according to her daughter, "Our house felt like it was the movement 24/7."

The NPR article goes on, "In the 1980s, she and her husband pushed for reparations and a formal government apology for Japanese-American internees through the Civil Liberties Act, which President Ronald Reagan signed into law in 1988. Her continued dedication to social causes inspired younger generations of activists, especially within the Asian-American community."

Kochiyama was a dedicated leader in the civil rights movement, but she would not have been able to do any of this on here own . Her efforts inspired a community of activists and volunteers.

This whole concept of, I alone can take us out of the wilderness of the swamp, is flawed, it is just plain wrong. You've heard there is strength in numbers. There is, and if that strength is based on fairness and equality and an understanding that we are all a part of something greater that can lead to just and equitable life, the better off we will be.

Arc of Justice

"Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Change takes a long time, but it does happen. Each of us who works for social change is part of the mosaic of all who work for justice; together we can accomplish multitudes." - B. Obama

The idea of the Moral Arc was carried forward in a book by Michael Shermer. The Moral Arc is about how science leads humanity toward truth, justice, and freedom. Shermer argues that the rise of full democracies around the world, combined with the spread of human rights and civil liberties has led to greater human flourishing. 

A Call to Action

The Moral Arc is not our destiny unless we are willing to work as a community. Understanding the concept of our inter-connectiveness, of community, is important. It is the starting point. Perhaps the following quotes can do a better job of explaining where I'm trying to go with this. After all, I'm simply borrowing on the thoughts and accomplishments of those who came before me.

"In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. – Marianne Williamson

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men." – Herman Melville

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

Making a Change

markus spiske

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

Inertia

A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.

"the power required to overcome friction and the inertia of the moving parts"

I talk about inertia when I teach people how to drive. There are only three things that you can control to change inertia when driving. You can steer, you can use your brakes, or you can use your accelerator. Sometimes it's a combination of all three. A small change can make a huge difference. Yet, there are a substantial number of collisions (around 30%) where drivers took no action.

But I digress. Back to Margaret Mead. Looking her up in Britannica, Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist best known for her studies of the peoples of Oceania. She also commented on a wide array of societal issues, such as women's rights, nuclear proliferation, race relations, environmental pollution, and world hunger. Her thoughts on social change made her a target of conservatives.

An essay in Scientific American by John Horgan posits that her bashers owe her an apology. Most attacks on Mead focus on her ethnographic writings, notably her classic Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization. 

"Her book nonetheless posed a challenge to Western sexual mores, which according to Mead inflicted needless suffering on young men and women. The metatheme of Coming of Age and all Mead's subsequent work was that the way things are is not the way they must or should be; we can choose to live in ways that make us happier and healthier. Her writings helped inspire feminism, the sexual revolution, the human potential movement and other countercultural trends during the 1960s."

Margaret Mead was a political progressive. Horgan points out that mead was  an outspoken critic of social Darwinism and eugenics, which in this pre-Nazi era were still intellectually fashionable. As a result of these influences, Mead opposed genetic determinism, racism, sexism, militarism and stultifying religious morality. She was biased—and she was right.

But was she right about change? Does a movement begin with an idea and end with a small group of committed individuals? There needs to be a point where the commitment of a few  becomes something larger.

Pettus Bridge

The first protest on March 7th was small. Led by Hosea Williams, one of Martin Luther King's SCLC lieutenants, and John Lewis, some 600 demonstrators walked, two by two, the six blocks to the Edmund Pettus Bridge that crossed the Alabama River and led out of Selma. They were literally beaten back. Press coverage changed that dynamic. Lewis spoke of how the civil rights music was able to change the dynamics through press coverage. “Without the press, the Civil Rights movement would have been a bird without wings.” 

There were actually three marches. The second march had two thousand participants. Martin Luther King turned the marchers back fearing the same outcome. By the third march, there ended up being 25 thousand when they reached Montgomery. Those who crossed the bridge were protected by 1,000 military policemen and 2,000 military troops.

The march was a pivotal point in the civil rights movement. As the numbers grew, the momentum, the inertia of the movement, became a force to strong to turn aside.

There have been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will. -Sam Cooke

Alabama Public Radio Civil Rights Documentary Wins Award

Three Things

First...Congratulations to Alabama Public Radio for its achievement. Their documentary about the "Children's Crusade" in Birmingham in 1963 is considered among New York Festivals' World's Best Radio Programs.

Second...the civil war is not over for some in the South. Check out the comments. It still takes courage to report on something that happened over 50 years ago.  http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/alabama_public_radio_wins_inte.html

Third...if you want to hear  "Civil Rights Radio", click on the link.