ON HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE DIALOGUE ON RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA (Part I)

Not all white people are racists. Majority of white people are not. If all whites are racists and because of their racism chose not to vote for a Black man in both 2008 and 2012, we wouldn’t have President Obama, America’s first Black President. Even if every eligible voter from other ethnic minorities voted 100% for him.

Now know that racism denies the goodness, qualifications, and quality in the ‘other.’ Racism exalts itself and looks down condescendingly on the ‘other.’ Racism thinks itself intellectually superior and considers itself lord over the ‘other’ and even when it wrongs the ‘other,’ racism considers it scandalous to apologize for the wrong because it sees the ‘other’ as less human with no dignity. So, irrespective of how articulate, analytical, collected, handsome, cool, tall, and prudent President Obama has been, if all white were racists, those who voted for him in both the 2008 and 2012 general elections would not have done so. Simply because despite his (Obama) outstanding candidacy, his white supporters, if they were racists, would have been blinded to all the qualities which made him a better candidate than his opponents and could have chosen the wrong person at the wrong time to be the leader of the free world.

MAJORITY OF WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT RACISTS.

Meanwhile, those white folks that jump to the defense of blatant racism by white police officers, anytime they (white police officers) take down another African-American man or teen, those folks are culprits.

Why do Fox News Network, folks like former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and some right wing politicians jump out of their pants to defend criminals and rogue police officers who kill African-American men, simply because the perpetrators are white?

I will answer that question in the latter paragraph after the next.

Now, at the risk of sounding naïve, I will first submit that not all white right wing politicians and public defenders of police officers who kill Black men are racists. Majority of them however are. Folks like Ted Nugent, who, from many disparaging comments credited to him against Blacks and the President of the United States, is obviously stupid. Folks like Rush Limbaugh, who prays that President Obama fails as a president even though the president’s failure is as good as America’s failure. Rush’s mind is too obscured by racism to grasp that. Folks like Mitch McConnell who wanted to make Obama a one-term president by blocking in the U.S. Senate, the president’s progressive programs for America, and by so doing handed China economic advantages over the U.S. And many other folks like those who were photographed queuing in line for autograph from George Zimmerman, a distraught individual whose bigoted mind engineered him to kill an unarmed African-American child. These folks claim to love America, however, they will rather see America burn because a smart man, the like of whom every other nation on earth will love to have as its president, but who happens to be Black, is America’s president. Not as if there is anything wrong with being Black. Black is sexy. Black is beautiful, and Black is powerful. These folks though, cannot just handle the fact that a Black Obama is the president and there is no blemish found in him. They seethe with anger anytime they think about it. It boils and eats their insides.

Nevertheless I want to also submit that beneath these unashamed public defense by white people and their celebration of those who kill Black men is a pervasive fear that “if we should condemn the obvious crimes committed by ‘our own’ and allow ‘blind justice’ to run its course, then the rest of the African-American people will believe in our justice system and will arise to demand justice for centuries of slavery and racism against them. And when that justice runs its full course, we may lose our centuries-long accumulated wealth courtesy of slavery and with our loss of wealth; we may also lose our influence and grip on power.” I stand to be corrected. But that sums it all up, the fear of the white man. It is like the fear that haunts a crime boss who kills a good man but couldn’t kill his young son who managed to escape the assailant’s bullet. So the crime boss lives in constant fear that a day will come when the son will grow into a man, pull his resources together, and try to exact vengeance on him for killing his father. Therefore in order to prevent such presumed eventuality, the crime boss does everything in his power to either kill the son before he matures into a man or through every conceivable means possible, try to stop the son from amounting to anything of significance in life. Hence the two justice system in America – one for white folks and one for black folks; and the inconsequential economic power of the black man. Both are designed to keep the black man from amounting to anything of either political or economic threat to the white man.

But contrary to the paranoid assumption that if mother justice suddenly becomes blind in America, as it ought to be; and contrary to the thinking that an empowered black man is a precursor to the white man’s loss of wealth and influence, I know and I declare that no black man is interested in vengeance, reparation, or enslaving whites. People are not interested in dwelling on the past but rather are looking forward to how to create a good future for their families and America. All that black people want, just like every other healthy human, is a fair playing field in the pursuits of life. People want equal access to opportunities. People want that when they walk into that interview or board room, that the color of their skin does not precede their intellectual capacity to determine their fate. A black man wants his proposal to the bank for loan in order to jumpstart his own business to receive equal consideration as a white man’s similar proposal. There are many funny, educated, creative, and articulate black men who can host late night shows competently. There are many educated, enterprising and politically-savvy black men who have earned the right to seats in the editorial boardroom of mainstream media houses. As we saw in the last Super Bowl that is won by the Seattle Seahawks, black men can be, not just competent, but astounding quarterbacks. 10 or 20 years from now, history, I am sure, will judge President Obama as one of the greatest presidents America has had. To that I have no doubt.

THE BLACK MAN IS AS COMPETENT AS THE WHITE MAN IN EVERY FACET OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR.

When it comes to the history of evolution of race relations in countries that are dominated by Caucasians, the United States of America maintains an unrivaled and commendable record. And that is the reason why the United States is the unrivaled superpower on earth. Fuck whatever economic progress China is making. That is on Republicans. Now, despite our appalling judicial system in which almost all ethnic minorities feel a sense of unfair treatment. And despite our structural racism which denies Blacks the opportunity and the environment to be the best they can be for ole America, we are still the best in the world. So imagine for a minute how unparalleled a nation the United States of America will become if majority of black men locked up on trumped-up charges and on crimes that do not deserve the harsh time they are serving are free men in the society working hard on a daily basis for their families and paying their taxes to Uncle Sam. Hold that thought. Now imagine again how great the economic fortunes of the USA would have been if America did not bomb the Black Wall Street on June 1921. Truth precedes healing. Doesn’t it? We are still imagining. Now imagine how many more Facebooks, Twitters, WhatsApps, Googles, Teslas, Paypals, SpaceX and their likes we would have had if black entrepreneurs were given access to research and development funds just like their white counterparts. And how good those extra inventions would’ve looked on our economy. Imagine that. Imagine the turnaround of fortunes for many NFL franchise if more black quarterbacks are encouraged in the various teams. And imagine how extra large our military force would be if young Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans have a sense of belonging in America and a certain claim of ownership of America both as our country and our homeland, just like our white counterparts.

RACISM IS A COSTLY SELF-INFLICTED DISEASE.

Everybody knows that it costs America less when a judge is fair in the courtroom and the police officer is fair on the street than for the government to feed, clothe, and provide logistics for the daily living of a convict in prison. Everybody knows that. If the justice system that dumped the convict in prison has been fair, that convict could have been living among us, adding value to his life and contributing to the society by paying his taxes. And that will eliminate costs for the government. It costs America less to give grants and loans to enterprising minds who want to open up their own businesses and create jobs for their communities than it is to give food stamps, provide housing, and pay unemployment benefits. It costs America less to admit qualified minorities to prestigious programs at Ivy League colleges who will in due time graduate to becomes great minds for shaping sound foreign and domestic policies, patenting the next wonder medicine, and creating new Fortune 500 companies than to deny them admission because some insecure and intolerant lot are scared shitless of competing on a level playing field less their undeserved projected façade of whiteman’s intellectual supremacy be ridiculed. Check out Matt Damon’s character in the 1992 movie School Ties.

Be you African-American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, or Native American, we are all people created equal by the same God and have the same red blood running through us. Without question we have cultural differences. And without question, we all have prejudices and biases. It will be naïve to suggest that all human beings eliminate their prejudices and bias. It cannot happen. If it does happen, Angels might think that the prophecy of the second coming of Christ Jesus is fulfilled and the world will come to an end. But what we cannot continue to let happen is for folks in public service to use their positions of power to hurt the health of our dear country through racism. Let us celebrate our differences and let us cement on our commonalities and build on it for the glory of America. We all know that there is no place else on earth we’d rather be born or naturalize than the United States of America. As our global influence and economic power continue to grow in strength, so does the resolve of our adversaries to bring us down. ISIS is already recruiting American youths who are disillusioned by whatever error or abnormality they perceive in our system of government. That is sad. But in times like these, we need statesmen of the likes of Abraham Lincoln who can inspire national cohesion, national healing, and a resolve by a people to abolish our two-faced justice system. In times like these, we do not need rhetoric or daytime television jockeying. Rather we need honest dialogue on race relations in America and how we can be a better example of fairness, equity, and justice to the rest of the world. In times like these, we need to be unified at home so that we can present a common front to the world and defeat our enemies. For a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Let the debate continue…….

Author: Ezeocha Post

I am passionate about politics and the social challenges that faces our country. As a firm believer in the goodness of man, and at the risk of sounding naïve, I am convinced that when people of goodwill driven by gallant ideas come together to fashion out a better world, and pursue these ideas with energy and vigor, that somehow they will prevail. My blog will seek to provide a platform through which these gallant ideas can be birthed for a better and equitable world. View all posts by Ezeocha Post