We are a long way from The Book of Virtues.
The Atlantic, The Last Temptation
Archive for October 2020
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Thoughts on the Criminalization of People of Color in America
Criminalization [...] is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into crime and criminals". Wikipedia
Not a day has gone by lately that I don't see multiple examples online of the effects of the criminalization of people of color in America.
I did NOT grow up understanding this and I don't know how to help.
In formal academically published theory, the real ruling class of a society reaches a temporary view on whether certain acts or behavior are harmful [Ed: to the ruling class] or criminal. Wikipedia (Emphasis added)
I'm thankful for the Seeing White podcast for the work they did which really open my eyes into how the legal and legislative process has been used consistently in America to redefine people of color as a criminal class -- we cannot see Black and brown Americans as individuals anymore, we only see them through the lens of criminality.
This process produces an explanation and excuse in the minds of the ruling class for any and all injustices against minorities and lower classes: they deserve it, as members of the criminal class, and it enables the excusing of members of the ruling class ("Well, it's not like he's a criminal").
I grew up a literal WASP and I'm ashamed of so many things I thought over the years. Worse, I can still recognize these deeply ingrained patterns in my own mind, even as I struggle to flip the script in my head.
Adam Savage's One Day Builds
Every morning I look for more... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtitKU0CAej22ZWBqrimPkn0Bbo6ci-r
White Liberal Anti-Racism, post-Trump
Fred Joseph asks:
One thing that’s been interesting about Trump’s presidency is how accessible it has made conversations about white supremacy.
I wonder how invested white people and the media will be in racism and anti-racism after he’s gone.
I've been wondering the same thing: assuming Biden wins, will white liberals (myself included) sigh in relief and go back to our pre-Trump, pre-Breonna Taylor, pre-George Floyd comfort?
I know that I've been working hard on following and learning from Black Americans and POC, and it's been good work, but white liberals have just scratched the surface of what we must learn from the lives and histories of POC.
Trump has been SO awful that it has been a catalyst for many of us to finally face the systemic injustice and racism that allowed him to rise to prominence, riding the post-Obama racist reaction. But a Biden win will not fix anything yet, it just puts a better public face on the administration. The hard work will be continuing to fight to reform the Senate, our law enforcement and justice systems, all the entrenched ways of thinking and working that our nation has been built on.
My "worst case" scenario right now is a Trump removal, Pence win. Pence is the "nice" face of a corrupt administration, and will happily go along with anything the abusive GOP can think up, bringing even the never-Trumper Evangelicals with him. And I know white democrats who are outraged at Trump-the-character, but not so much his racist, unjust policies.
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