Over the course of my life, I have seen many examples of racism, anti-semitism , sexism and other forms of despicable prejudice. As a young high school football player, I heard chants of “Jew Go Home,” in Griffin, Georgia because the game was rescheduled due to a conflict with Yom Kippur. As an adult, I was asked by my former boss, “you’re not going to vote for that “Shvartza,” are you,” intimating that the only way too identify my preferred candidate was by the color of his skin. In business I was told that I was trying to “Jew him down” when I was negotiating a better price. I have heard business associates say that they could never work for a woman because they are “too emotional.” There are many more examples that I have seen and heard. Countless times, I have heard the derogatory terms, n****r, Kike, jungle bunny, Jesus killer and more used in everyday conversation. Is it ignorance that causes those people to have deep rooted prejudices? Or is it a systemic epidemic?
Those same people that exhibit prejudicial tendencies are simply unwilling to acknowledge our country’s racist, prejudicial and sexist history and how it impacts the present. In fact, they refuse to acknowledge their own personal prejudices. Unfortunately, my generation was taught a white-washed version of history in school. We were taught that this country was founded on “ALL men are created equal.” That might be what is written in the Declaration of Independence, but it is not what has EVER been practiced in this country.
First of all, that declaration doesn’t even take in to account that approximately 50% of the population aren’t men. Nowhere are women mentioned and they have never been treated as equal. Women couldn’t vote until the early 20thcentury and weren’t even allowed to have a credit card in their name until the 1970’s! Today, they are paid significantly less for doing the same job as men. This country was founded on sexism and it still exists today.
Secondly, all men are created equal in this country as long as they are not Black, Jewish, Muslim, Gay, Trans, Middle-Eastern, of Far-Eastern descent or any other way that they aren’t straight, white, Christian men. Blacks were held as slaves until late in the 19th century. We imprisoned Japanese-Americans during WW2 simply because of their heritage. We had a former President that wanted to bar any Muslim from ever entering the country again. We have politicians that want to control women’s bodies. We have state legislatures and school boards that have outlawed the teaching or discussion of The Holocaust because they believe it to be a “theory.” We have never fully recognized the fact that indigenous people were living in this land for centuries before Europeans “discovered” America and systematically stole their lands and eradicated their sovereign rights. State legislatures are spending considerable time and money pushing for outrageous voter restriction laws that primarily target minorities.
These systemic prejudices are what Critical Race Theory is all about. CRT is simply trying to teach that racism, sexism, and white nationalist prejudices have existed since the founding of this country and until we acknowledge that, there is no chance of every changing the collective thinking of the ruling class. So, what do our politicians have to say about this? The former President said that white nationalists are “fine people.” Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida said that systemic racism as a concept is “a bunch of horse manure.” And then he and other politicians start writing laws and edicts outlawing the teaching of THE TRUTH! What are THEY afraid of?
Scholars and activists who discuss CRT are not arguing that people living now are to blame for what people did in the past. They are saying that people living now have a moral responsibility to do something about how racism, prejudices and sexism still impacts all of our lives today. If we are to have an equitable democracy, then we must oppose those policies that are trying to silence this much needed conversation.
Looking back on my formal education, I am angry that my generation was taught a very white-washed version of our history. I can’t help but think that this is one of the reasons our prejudices are so deeply embedded in our society. In order for The USA to be the best it can be, we must confront the issue of racism, other prejudices and sexism head on. The only way to stop the continuous cycle of prejudice is to recognize the past, so we can course correct the future. Future generations will be better for it.
And The Journey Continues……
