My latest Medium published story is called The U.S. is 244 years of hatred. In it I write about how much many Americans hate people of color, which I’m reminded of as I imagine how many white supremacists must feel just fine about COVID-19 killing more Blacks and Latinos that whites, proportionately to their numbers in the general population. And the more people of color manage to accomplish, the more they hate us. I believe that as the U.S. becomes a majority of Latinos and Asians, certain white people will hold on to power even more tightly.
During other crises, the Democratic and Republican members of Congress have managed to work together against the common enemy. They’re not doing that this time. This time they’ve gotten bogged down in the stubborn disdain that has characterized them for a couple of decades now. Why is it so bad now?
I believe part of it is about the progress in civil rights and other liberal values that we’ve made in the last few decades. I think red states are terrified of a non-white majority . They see liberals as anti-white. And this is a big part of why so much of the American population hates liberals, “liberalism,” and progressive politics.
Optimists point to civil rights achievements, but the more achievements we make, the bigger the fear of certain white people. And the ones in power are only going to work harder to hold on to that power, no matter how many Latino, Asian and multi-racial children take over nursery rooms and grammar schools.
This 244-year-0ld country was built on the hatred of and violence towards indigenous people, Black people and everybody else unrelated to the European whites who first decided they were entitled to this land. And that hatred of everyone who doesn’t look like those early European whites continues.
The dehumanization of indigenous people and slaves brought from Africa formed part of the core of American values before the Unites States were even formed in 1776. Hating non-white people has always been part of American culture, and culture changes very slowly. How slowly? Changing the core values of a culture takes hundreds of years. So anyone who thinks we’ll get the whites to share power any sooner than several generations from now is delusional.
Americans hate, exploit and kill those who don’t look European and that is simply part of our value system, beliefs and way of doing business. And a lot of white Americans are perfectly happy with COVID-19 taking out Blacks, Mexicans, Chinese and all the “other foreigners.” This is what this country is: 244 years of hatred.
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These were my thoughts (well, along the same lines…) when I first learned the statistics about the racial disparity in coronavirus cases. Sad, isnt it?
My pleasure! I really like reading your blogs.
Racism has been endemic to the American population since before 1776. It's not foreign or new, like the coronavirus. I don't think this analogy works, but I appreciate your passion.
Racism is like the coronavirus in that it is spreading among individuals who are susceptible to malaise. Racism can only survive if enough individuals embrace certain doctrines. A virus can only survive (and thrive) by use of a leukocyte. The point is that an entity can spread and survive if given enough impetus to make an impact.