Well, it has been a while since I last put finger to key and blogged. The rigors of a total knee reconstruction and its aftermath kept me away from my desk. However, I'm back to annoy my small coterie of readers!
Since it is MLK day, let's talk about racism in the United States of America in the 21st century. To the casual observer, America looks like the prototypical multiracial democracy. Black and brown people are represented in public life, sports, the arts and even politics. After all, country's major cities have POC as mayors. It is when you look at the economics of race, the real disparities become evident. Starting with a largely defacto segregated school system, blacks and brown people start the race for economic independence with one hand tied behind their back and their feet shackled. By virtually every measure they do worse on standardized tests than their white counterparts. Instead of spending to fix the system, most people just respond to the dog whistle of white racial supremacy and write off generation after generation of blacks except for those who by dint of spectacular performance earn a grudging nod from whites.
Change will come, but it does not have to be glacial. In the 53 years since MLK's murder, progress toward racial equality has not only stopped, it has in some areas been reversed. We need to do better.
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