Since primordial times, southern races have oppressed other races. Blacks faced severe discrimination from many Southerners. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that tyranny was wrong. led by the judges, including sit-ins, freedom rides, and bus boycotts. Reverend Martin Luther King led nonviolent protests that were backed by the federal government and were able to persuade Americans that racial discrimination is a moral problem. (Takaki).
The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 show how quickly racial and discriminatory ideas were eradicated from American culture once native Americans recognized that discriminatory tendencies were wrong. Sadly, Dr. Luther was killed in 1968. Luckily enough, at that time the United States had been changed, changed for the better in some vital ways. The movement marked a remarkable victory for all Americans (Takaki).
However how simple these summaries may seem, many people still believe the Master Narrative. Clear lines between villains and Heroes and the defined conclusion of the Civil Rights Movement about legislative progress makes for a fun fiction. The Master Narrative also makes it easy to dismiss current initiatives concerning race by Americans as obsolescent and accuse the initiators of being “race-baiters” or re-builders of the divisions they seek to tear (Takaki).
A simple understanding of the United States’ past and present racial notions has particularly harmful effects on Godly families i.e. churches. It makes it makes it hard for people from different races to associate with empathy and keeps churches divided by race. It breeds the “us” vs. “them” mentality of confrontation and opposition among diverse races (Fisher and Thomas).
What is needed is a more intensive keen critical study of the racial history and the struggle for racial justice dating back to the earliest days of the country.Christians should comprehend the historical continuity between authorities and black people. We must see the cause-and-effect dynamic between legalized segregation during Jim Crow, and current residential segregation. Above all, we must realize that because of total depravity, a sin like racism never disappears. It only evolves into subtle, more new forms (Fisher and Thomas).
Martin Luther King always fought for to fight racists as he believed that all men were created equal and during one of his speeches he said, “"I say to you today, mv friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal”, (Takaki).
Reality of American Freedom
Masked Racism/Slavery by another Name
Although the current America does not want to be associated with tendencies of racism, a keen study will prove that some forms of evolved racism ways which seem hidden still exist but in twisted ways that may not be quickly evident until after an intense study. Masked racism can be identified by the case studies as discussed below (Omoni).
Color imprisonment
Prisons rely on racialized assumptions of criminality i.e. images of black welfare mothers are perceived to reproduce criminal children, and on racist practices in arrest, conviction, and sentencing patterns. Once the aura of magic is eliminated away from the imprisonment solution, what is evident is class bias, pure racism, and the parasitic seduction of capitalist profit (Davis, Angela and Barsamian).
Devouring Social Wealth
By isolating people labeled as criminals, prisons concurrently covers and reinforces the structural racism of the U.S. economy. Claims of low unemployment rates even in black communities make sense only if one assumes that the large numbers of prisoners have disappeared and thus have no legitimate claims to jobs (Davis, Angela and Barsamian).
Although prison labor which is ultimately compensated at far below the minimum wage rate is highly lucrative for the private companies which use it, the penal system as a whole does not produce wealth but instead devours the social wealth that could be used to better children homes or increase the wage rates for some poorly paid employees (Davis, Angela and Barsamian).
The Prison Industrial Complex
Private prison companies can be seen as the reason behind the increasing corporatization of the penitentiary punishment. Prison industries are not to expand, and this is for the reason that people are hunted for arrest by all possible means to be taken to jail to provide cheap labor for major companies (Davis, Angela and Barsamian).
MCI company for example which provides prisoners with the only phones available charge inmates high costs as they have no other means to communicate with the outside world. Companies such as IBM and Motorola use prisoners in manufacturing processes and pay them very cheaply below the minimum wage rate (Davis, Angela and Barsamian).
Such practice portrays racism against prisoners where inmates are being used as an opportunity to grow. Companies now want to spend less and gain more which should not be the case as prisoners are human and deserve a right proportion of what they help produce. Such strategies to increase wealth by stepping on others should be condemned in the strongest terms possible (Takaki).
In conclusion, I would say that although many countries including the United States do not want to be associated with any act of racism, racism precedes in hidden forms. As much as we view racism as uncivilization, a keen study will prove the majority of us as uncivilized.
Works Cited
Davis, Angela Yvonne, and David Barsamian. The prison industrial complex. Ak Press, 1999.
Fisher, Thomas E. Transitioning a historically African American Church into a multiracial and multi-ethnic congregation. Diss. United Theological Seminary, 2016.
Omoni, Femi. "The Reenactments of Slavery By Another Name."
Takaki, Ronald. A different mirror: A history of multicultural America (Revised edition). eBookIt. com, 2012.
