This piece will be running this weekend as a newspaper op/ed in my very red congressional district (VA-06).
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Is there “systemic racism” in America? That seems to be a point of controversy.
Fortunately, for any who want to know the truth, this controversy can be resolved by one significant piece of evidence.
In recent years, the larger American society has learned something about the culture of African-American families. It’s called “the Talk”; that “Talk” is a lesson that black parents sit their children – especially their sons – down to hear.
The purpose of “the Talk” is to make sure that if they ever have to deal with a policeman – e.g. if they are pulled over while driving – they will behave in those ways necessary to avoid ending up dead.
The whole thrust of this set of instructions that black parents give especially their sons is that dealing with an encounter with a policeman is like defusing a bomb, an exceedingly dangerous situation in which one false move might lead to a deadly explosion: “Move your hands this way, not that way; ask for permission for everything; do nothing to make him angry.”
Is there a single white family that feels any necessity to convey any such message? Not that I’ve ever heard of. I don’t know a single white parent who regards the situation in which a child of theirs might get pulled over by a policeman as dangerous (let alone life-threatening).
Doesn’t that prove that our society creates a different reality for black people than for white? Can anyone think for a moment that – if there were no need for it -- a whole swath of black parents would be delivering “the Talk”?
Parents don’t invent this sort of thing. (Parents have enough to worry about.) They know their world, and what their children need to know to survive in it.
If black parents need to teach their children about a danger that the children of white parents don’t face, clearly there’s racism in the picture.
And if the need for “the Talk” is spread across the society – if the felt need for such bomb-defusing precautions involves not just this policeman or that one, not just this county or that, but addresses a threat widespread in the nation – doesn’t that pretty well prove that this problem of racism is systemic?
So, yes, there is systemic racism. It is proved: The police system in America treats blacks worse than it treats whites.
But we don’t need “the Talk” for proof, because – thanks to videos from cell-phones -- all of America has now seen it for themselves. A whole series of videos, in this age of the ubiquitous cell-phone, have shown us black men getting brutal, often fatal, and unjustified treatment from white policemen.
The problem that black parents have known about for years – hence “the Talk” – has been witnessed now also by America’s white population.
Again and again, this racial injustice has been put before our eyes: “I can’t breathe” in New York. The knee-on-the-neck killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The shooting of an unarmed black man in Kenosha, WI, seven times in the back. And so many more.
Equally clear is that addressing this problem is required for our nation to be the America we pledge allegiance to (with “justice for all”) and what the Constitution requires that it be (“equal protection of the laws”).
This clarity about the shared reality these videos have given us – that we have a problem with racial injustice and that this is not the America that we have aspired to be – means that we now have an important opportunity to move forward to better live up to our foundational values.
One thing is crystal clear about what this moving forward calls for us Americans to do. In a couple of months Americans will be choosing between two starkly different paths regarding racism and racial justice: one path toward intensified racial hostilities and conflict, the other toward racial healing and institutional improvement.
I expect it’s obvious what choice I’m talking about.
It can hardly be denied that Donald Trump has continually worked to intensify racial tensions and conflict. As President, he’s never said or done anything Black America would experience as reaching out to them. On the contrary, he’s chosen to
- distort the message of NFL players’ kneeling;
- talk about “fine people” among the white supremacists;
- suppress the vote of African-Americans;
- ignore the legitimate nationwide mostly peaceful protests, and emphasize only the lawless few.
All that – and the list could be lengthened -- on top of Trump’s long history of racist conduct and speech going back a half century.
By contrast, Joe Biden clearly aspires to build bridges, wants to heal our racial divisions, and would work to correct our racial injustices.
Is it really difficult to tell which of those two paths Americans should choose?