We & Systemic Racism

The world occasionally witnesses racial violence and atrocities by the US police force, but soon everything returns to normal, and no serious action is taken to combat such racial acts. But stopping this systemic racism, that is ingrained in the US police structure, is possible only by changing minds.

Policing plays a key role in maintaining structural inequalities between people of color and white people in the United States: for example, in the George Floyd case, what happened to him is an expression of an idea that has long been in the minds of many Americans, which has led to a sense of dread and hatred.

Statistics show that people of color face a higher likelihood of being killed by Police than do white men and women, that risk peaks in young adulthood and that men of color face a nontrivial lifetime risk of being killed by Police. In other words, Police in the United States kills far more people than do Police in other advanced industrial democracies. However, one thing to keep in mind is that Americans are the ones that care about income and living standards.

Racism is a clear demonstration of the ancient link between fear and hatred in this society, which skillfully begins with the upper classes of America. Education, laws, ethics, institutions, and Hollywood have been tasked with spreading and reinforcing resentments and insults at all levels of society, which have ultimately convinced people that they are superior to others. The role of American political and economic elites is undeniable in creating these illusions. On the plus side, American people seem to be well acquainted with the tactics imposed by wealthy white immigrants over the past three centuries. This can be seen from the widespread presence of whites in anti-racist demonstrations in the United States.

To conclude, as Martin Luther King said: “Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about the things that matter.” So let’s fight to achieve our rights.