We have
set off a new wave of white authoritarian requisite desire to justify their
behavior against people of color. White America has not come to terms with the
lingering effects of discrimination. This can be seen through right-wing
talking heads attacking any and everyone that does not look or act the way that
they feel people should act, just listen to Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity or
Glenn Beck when they go off on some lecture about how Black America needs to conduct
themselves, and these sermons also includes thinly veiled racial attacks on the
President of the United States.
It comes
as no surprise that Michael Brown’s character is being dragged through the mud
in the days and weeks following his murder. This is the typical response of the
right-wing hit machine. They want to make sure that Black America understands
their place in society, while trumpeting the moral superiority of White
America, therefore, the unstated idea is that White America is under siege and
must do any and everything in its power to protect its economic, social and
political positions. They pretend that equality exists because a Black American
was voted for two terms as president.
What
they refuse to tell you is that these same right-wingers who feign color blindness
have done everything in their power to discredit President Obama through
personal and political attacks on anything action that he has taken as
president be it healthcare reform to equal pay for women to protecting all Americans
(not just white men) against discrimination even when the Supreme Court does
its best job to keep inequity alive. Just today, Mitch McConnell said that if
the Republicans take control of the Senate, he has vowed to hold the president
and the American people hostage if he does not get his way on legislation. This
is another example of the right-wing’s need to control and dominate all conversations.
It doesn’t
stop there; the right-wing hit machine has helped to promote and incite the
astronomical growth of the white hate groups in America. These groups are not
only against people of color, but they are against federal, state and local
government agencies that will not cow-tow to their every whim. When a white man
(Clive Bundy) breaks the law, these vigilantes are armed and ready to fight the
federal government. When a young black man is murdered by an officer of the
government, they are nowhere to be found. How would the story have changed if a
young white man had been gunned down?
More
than likely, the right-wing hit machine would be all over the government
concerning overreach and the militarization of the police. They would be
screaming for an investigation into the shooting and demanding the arrest of
the offending officer. Because it was a black man, in their eyes, the officer
is being victimized and unfairly ostracized for carrying out his job. These
behaviors demonstrate the incredible racial divide that is America today.
We have
not evolved in a way in which racial discrimination has been eliminated. White
America pretends that this problem no longer exists, however, the murder of
Michael Brown demonstrates how deeply divided we are as a country and how
little progress has been made in shoring up racial inequality since Martin
Luther King’s death.
The root
of America’s racial distrust transcends Michael Brown’s murder, and as a
country, we need to acknowledge that work needs to be done when it comes to
racial and gender discrimination. Moreover, as a society, we must rise above the
right-wing hit machine that only wants to focus on things like black on black
murder and black incarceration to justify their discriminatory positions. This hidden
bigotry is a disease that is slowly eating away at the fabric of America, and leaving
too many Americans on the outside of justice looking in.
No comments:
Post a Comment