Despite the overwhelming election of President Barack Obama, the inherent prejudice against people of color remains alive and well in American society, said a panel of Black intellectuals, critics and activists today.
"This whole notion of a post-racial society is ridiculous, we need to stop saying it, we need to stop even talking about it," said BET's Jeff Johnson. "Let's be honest about the fact that many of us from all races are racist…. We've lied about progress."
The statement was part of an assessment of the "State of Black America," an annual conversation held at the yearly convention of the National Urban League, which produces a report of the same name.
Johnson's statement emerged out of a conversation that revolved around – you guessed it – beer.
:::
Unlike some in the media who saw the meeting as a significant step forward in resolving the issue of racial profiling and the underlying prejudice, many on the panel thought it was a mostly empty gesture.
"It is a significant brouhaha [but] I'm not sure it gets to what 'ales' (ails) us," commented George Washington University professor Michael Eric Dyson. "The real problem is still on the streets where disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino men and women are subjected to arbitrary forms of police power."
Johnson agreed in even starker terms.
"I'm offended by the discussion at the White House," the political commentator said, "because if they were serious about solving this problem, Gates would be there, Crowley would be there, but so would Tyrone and Shaniqua and other young people who have dealt with this kind of psychosis from the police; they are not represented in this conversation."
Where Gates was coming from is a history of Black men like Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo, who have been shot and killed by police, and longtime criminal policies that disproportionately target Black and Hispanics, several on the panel said. And those structural inequities would not be addressed by looking only at individual cases like Gates'.
"We're looking at a macro problem through micro lens," said Schott Foundation President John Jackson, who said the larger problem was the law enforcement environment created by former President Ronald Reagan.
"In 1980, the Reagan administration institutionalized new criminal justice policies [and] you began to see a 70 degree spike in the number of incarcerations for Black males," Jackson said. "So we can't have this conversation without talking about the systemic policies and practices. And you're not going to solve that macro challenge by just tipping back a few beers at the White House."
Johnson said solving that overarching problem of deep-seated racism is something that has to happen on a personal level, he's more concerned about acts of discrimination within government agencies.
"I don't care if you're racist or not…I am concerned with the way you do your job," he said.
Read the entire article Here
No comments:
Post a Comment