Dan

Calabrese

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January 29, 2009

Why Are We So Unwilling to Say That Racism is Dead?

It was not even 50 years ago that black people were prevented from sitting in certain places, living in certain neighborhoods, having certain jobs and attending certain schools – just because a significant number of white people thought they were undesirable. And our nation’s laws permitted this.

It was not even 150 years ago that white people could own black people as property – just because an entire region of the country regarded them as subhuman. And our nation’s laws permitted this.

Talk of racism can become so trivial at times, we can lose sight of just how evil and inexplicably wrong it was. And I do mean was.

Racism in America is over. It has been defeated. It will never be a significant factor in American society again – and this is awesome news. The only mystery now is why we are so unwilling to proclaim this happy fact.

The same country that permitted slavery, Jim Crow, “separate but equal” and institutional segregation has just elected a black man as its president.

Now, this black man did not receive every vote. He didn’t receive mine. But there is no one of any consequence whatsoever who is raising even the slightest objection to the fact that a black man is president of the United States. People raise objections to President Obama’s policies, but no one raises an issue about his color. He is treated like every other president.

Many people celebrate the fact that a black man is president. No one, save for some kooky fringe movements that are roundly rejected by the rest of society, objects to it.

No one.

And it’s not as if we hadn’t been making progress toward this point for some time. The last two secretaries of state, both of whom served in a Republican administration, were also black. Two black men are now serious candidates to become chairman of the Republican National Committee. Black people are respected leaders in every walk of life in America – business, entertainment, politics, media . . . everywhere.

All of this cannot happen in a nation in which racism still permeates. It is incontrovertible proof that it no longer does.

I do not believe, by the way, that racism was only just vanquished with Obama’s election. It’s been dead for more than 20 years, and I wrote that more than 20 years ago. It’s just that the evidence is far more overwhelming now than it was back then.

This is not to say there are no more racist people or racist attitudes. There still are. This is not to say black people still don’t suffer from disproportionately serious problems. They do, and historical racism is the reason they do. It would be absurd to deny that.

But what is also clear is that any lingering racist sentiments in America today no longer have any significant impact on society. It is not helpful to black people mired in poverty when those who claim to be their advocates fail to acknowledge this fact. People in poverty have many very serious challenges to overcome, and encouraging them to fixate on a challenge that no longer exists does them no favors. There is opportunity to be sought, and for people in poverty, that opportunity is the key to rescuing them from squalor. Telling them the white man will never give them a chance is wrong. The white man will, although these days there are also plenty of black men and black women who are in a position to give them a chance as well.

The American civil rights movement is one of history’s great success stories. It is rare that a movement can battle such a pervasive evil and eliminate it so quickly, but the civil rights movement did so. It’s a shame so many try to deny this. We just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and many of those who claim to respect and admire Dr. King insist his dream has not yet been realized.

It has. How does it respect Dr. King to claim otherwise? He was the most successful revolutionary in this country since its founders. He led the movement that eradicated racism so completely, and so quickly, that a black man born during Dr. King’s lifetime is now our president.

America should celebrate the fabulous news that racism has been completely vanquished in our society. It may be the best thing that has happened in America in the past 100 years. Why are we so afraid to say that this is so?

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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