Double Vision on Racism

Double Vision on Racism – It’s What We Need!
The View from the Middle

Edmund Burke, British philosopher and politician, was the first person to suggest that, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” The wisdom in this quote rings so true that it may be the most repeated axioms of all time used by Winston Churchill and probably every President from Washington to Obama. OK, Trump has probably also used it at some point in his 72 years on earth.

I am also a huge believer in the idea expressed in that quote. It is important for all of us to not only know but to understand the ramifications of what many people consider America’s original sin, slavery. I believe that this is the greatest country in the world with the brightest future, but we must have a double vision on race if we are going to move forward together. The first part of that double vision is understanding the past.

You could argue that slavery began in the United States, before it actually was The United States, in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. In the first 100 years, however, it was not a massive practice. It wasn’t until 1726 that the floodgates began to burst open. In the next 100 years, from 1726 through 1825, almost 300 thousand slaves were brought here from Africa or about 97% of all the trafficking done in the history of this country. Of course, the people who were brought here had children, and by 1860 there were almost four million people living in slavery in the United States.

Abraham Lincoln officially ended slavery in America in 1863, over 150 years ago. That means that millions of African American families experienced brutal treatment for almost that same length of time. From 1726 to 1863 many slave owners did two things that would impact these people for years to come. They systematically and intentionally broke up families, selling husbands away from wives and children away from their parents. They also, for the most part, denied them an education. The purpose of this two-fold strategy was to make them more dependent on their owners and thus less likely to seek freedom and independence.

And while the next 100 years (1863 to 1964 and the civil rights act) were better, and continually improved, they were plagued by prejudice, violence and Jim Crow. All of us must not only educate ourselves on this history, but we must understand the impact that it had on many of our African American citizens even today. The destruction of the family and denial of education have been huge obstacles for these families to overcome even today, but much progress has been made.

In 1870 we finally elected the first two African American members of Congress in Senator Hiram Revels and Representative Joseph Rainey. Today we have 55 Black Senators and Representatives (over 10% of the total of 535) and we have finally experienced our first two African American Attorneys General in Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. Under George W. Bush we had our first two Black Secretaries of State appointed in Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and, of course, in 2008 we elected our first Black President, Barack Obama. I actually lived through the 1950’s and 60’s and can personally testify that, while things aren’t perfect, relations are better today and are improving.

This is where the “double vision” comes in. While we need to know and understand our history, we need to focus on the future. What needs to happen for our progress to continue? Nature will have a huge influence. As Oprah Winfrey suggested back in 2013, there are people who were born into and marinated in racism, “and they just need to die”. Now, while that was inartfully expressed, she is right. It’s not that they “have” to die, like we need to go out and kill certain people, they just “will” die. This is true for offenders AND for the victims. Each new generation will be less affected by the history of racism. Just watch our young children, let’s say under 10 years old, interact with each other. There is almost a total ignorance of race, and that’s a good thing.

And while nature will provide a corrective influence, we shouldn’t stop there. We, as a society should address the two most important elements that can truly help level the playing field for the Black community, and that is “family” and “education”. According to the most recently available census data, 62% of Black families are led by a single parent, while that is true for only 26% of white families. Certainly, our government should incent families to stay together with every program they put in place. Currently our welfare and criminal justice systems do the opposite, and we need to change them.

Next, Black leaders need to send the message to young Black men and women that family stability is a key to success in this or any country. While I’m not a big fan of Louis Farrakhan, he has one good message that he continues to send to his followers – fathers, stay with your wives and children. We need more legitimate Black leaders to echo that message to their youth. Actually, this is a good message for young people of every race.

Finally, I believe that education is the great equalizer in our country today, and we need to do more than just tell our young people how important it is. We need to enable parents and students to get the best education they can. I was lucky enough to be able to send my children to private schools from grade school on, and our members of Congress are over four times more likely to send their children to private schools than the general public. I would like every family to have the same choices I had and that our politicians have.

Our government spends about $12,000 per student per year for their public school educations. Right now, that money goes, in effect, to buildings. I would suggest that we give that money to parents and allow them to spend it as they wish to send their children to whatever school they choose. They could pick whatever public school they want which would make those school compete for their students instead of the geographic guarantee they have now. Or, parents could choose a private school, and $12,000 might get these students into many private schools today. With a little assistance it could get them into virtually all of them. This is not the complete answer for every family, but it would liberate many from the failing, monopolistic system they are forced into today.

My point is, while we need to understand our history, progress can only be made in a future that we approach with purpose and collaboration. But no one gets a free ticket to this future. There are responsibilities on both sides of the fence. We need action, not rhetoric. We need cooperation, not finger pointing, and we need the hearts of our founders and not the soulless character of our current political environment. But if we can deliver the work and the cooperation and the heart, oh what a great country our children will inherit.