Racism is our original sin, not slavery
We are all a part of this legacy, scars and blemishes, good and evil
June 24, 2019
It is common to hear people say slavery was America’s original sin, even mealy mouth Mitch McConnell said it. Of course, he was trying to counter reparations hearings. As he stumbled through his on-camera response it came to him, call it America’s original sin. Smooth as bourbon he continued with the intonation of a mortician letting us all know no serious person can suggest we owe those Black folk anything? After all, we had that Barrack Hussein Obama. He spoke of Obama as if he was a redeemer of the 19th Century. He did not use a n-word or openly state this is a White man’s country to be ruled by White men. He does want total power for his party and the alignment of White man’s rule is nearly in sync with GOP rule. Improving equality and economic opportunity is not Mitch’s agenda. He has one mission to serve wealth and share in their loot. Mitch may have moved past the Lost Cause whitewash of American history. He may not continue the claim that secession was not about slavery. Still, Mitch is the lord protector of White patriarchy. When he acknowledges slavery as the original sin it is not a step forward. Many in the Resistance point to a moral code or highlight the hypocrisy, but what’s right is not an effective argument. There is no humanitarian appeal to the powers who Mitch serves, there is nothing noble in their souls. It is therefore a priority for the rest of us to understand the animus of American history, the real original sin of our nation’s character.
Mitch McConnell no reparations
Our original sin is racism and a belief in White (continually expanded) supremacy. Racism not only underlies many aspects of our history; it is the hidden truth. Racism is the taboo admission. People can say, post, or react in the most racist way, then assert in firm belief, but I’m not a racist. It is easy to see the racism of America’s earliest immigrants. They viewed the Native Americans as subhuman. A Native American’s severed head was displayed on a pike in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a colony of the civilized race. Once a group of people is categorized as distinct and other than you, then of course they have fewer rights. The other is always easy to cast fear and hate at. The other is a useful foil to manipulate the will of those who are like you. We have coursed through these four hundred plus years identifying those who are other and those who have joined the White identity. Many different identities once experienced exclusion have been incorporated into the White identity. Catholics may find objection to their religion today, but today’s objections would be based on the practices and profession of their religion. The Know-nothings worried American Catholics held allegiance to the Pope over their country. White America has expanded; it includes Italian, Jewish, Slavic and other identities once stigmatized as the others. Racism is so engrained in the American character it pervades our history. American history is racist and therefore we are all ensnared in its web.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Even free Blacks could not be free of racism. Slavery could end but oppression would continue because of race. Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is a perfect example. A Black man present at the very founding of the American Methodist Episcopal Church. Preaching in Philadelphia as the United States formed its government and attracting the free Black population, he aroused opposition by the White Methodists. Rev. Allen formed the AME in response to the racist reaction of his fellow Methodists. Even abolitionists could hold racist views, Frederick Douglass became a good judge of White men. He found few who treated him without prejudice. In the 18th and 19th Centuries fear of slave revolts was rampant in the slave states. Fear of Black Americans was a motivation to unite poor Whites in alignment with wealthy Whites in politics and secession. It is irrelevant that most Confederate soldiers were not slave owners, they were fully aligned in the struggle for White supremacy. The hate and vigilante violence of the Reconstruction period has toxified our society. The residue of virulent racism still flows through our current history. The failure of Reconstruction lingers with us like the long decay rate of a powerful radioactive explosion. Racism is the underlying motivation of the Trail of Tears. All the immoral interactions of suppression and extermination of Native Americans was justified by White supremacy. Racism permeated the treatment of Hispanic people living in Texas and California before it became United States territory. Equal protection of the law has been denied to many Chinese immigrants and other Asian immigrants. Unless your identity has been assimilated into this mythical White race, you live life as an Other American. Why else does President Trump desire immigrants from Norway but not Nicaragua? Our culture and society have evolved as a consequence of racist motivation, none of us in the White identity can be separated from prejudice. We are all participants in racism; it is only a matter of degree. The decay rate of the toxicity has been slow and will remain detectable for many years.
Vikings not always welcome immigrants
The erosion of support for public education is not an American ideal; it is the consequence of racism. Our current private or charter school movement was animated by Brown vs Board of education. Public is open to everyone. ...
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