Welcome to Delicate template
Header
Just another WordPress site
Header

Racial Entitlements vs. White Privileged Entitlements

March 18th, 2013 | Posted by David Whitfield in Racial Justice

Why does racism persist and leadership abstains?

I realize that this blog is a bit salty; but as long as we have law officers (justices), Agents, supremacists, dominant, privileged, oppressors, social justice will be impossible for all. When Justice Scalia uttered “voting as a racial entitlement,” I kept thinking of the meaning of it. I thought if we interrogated privileged entitlements, we would see Agent a-la Leticia Nieto. Agent is a synonym for: supremacy, privileged, oppressor, and dominance, plus. Historically, when it comes to voting it was forbidden, matter of fact, illegal, for Blacks to learn to read; yet, at voting sites, Whites administered literacy tests; if Blacks couldn’t read, they couldn’t vote. And now it’s called racial entitlements? That speaks volumes of the dominant group’s intent; of course, there are exceptions.
 
What is this about? It’s about denial of the reality of ethnically, racially, and culturally different others. Meaning, those of us (Targets) who differ from the dominant group have an abnormal reality. Said differently, the Target’s reality is not a concern for the Agent. And when it comes to Targets, our existence is subsidiary, insignificant. This helps to justify the utterance of “racial entitlements.” It justifies neo-colonialism, oppression, powering over and not powering with; it justifies protracted segregated schools, neighborhoods; it justifies the hatred, lynchings, drownings, bombing of homes and churches during the civil rights era. And in this case, since most Agents are from the dominant group, the idea is to make neo-colonialism normal. Specifically, keep America White: dominate, oppress, and exploit ethnically, racially, and culturally different others. So, how long will this dominance last?
 
As I see it, dominance won’t last much longer because there is more awakening in the world; there is more hatred toward us (U. S. Americans) from a variety of non-White countries and cultures. North Korea and many of the Muslin countries come to mind. What many of us don’t realize is that seven-eighth (7/8th) of the world is non-White. And if members of the 7/8th decide to collaborate or collude against the 1/8th (the White, dominant world) the entire world scene will change. Think of who attacked us on 9/11? Members of the 7/8th. Who hates this country with a burning passion to destroy it? Many members of the 7/8th. Also, think of “that little raggedy-ass country,” as President Johnson called it—Viet Nam. That little raggedy-ass country defeated us.
 
We lost that war despite the atrocities committed by Americans while in Viet Nam: My Lai, where more than 500 Vietnamese were slaughtered. According to the Embassy of Viet Nam in Washington, D. C, a tally shows: that 50 of the Vietnamese were three years old or younger; 69 were between the ages of four and seven; 91 were between eight and twelve; and 27 were in their seventies or eighties. And then, “Beers for Ears,” which went like this: “The more ears you brought back, the more beers you got,” per the documentary “Winter Soldier.” Finally, old men were used for target practice; young Vietnamese girls were raped, etc., etc. Again, we lost that war. And we don’t have the courage to discuss it. And yet, we want to pick a fight with Iran; North Korea is threatening to attack us; and we have a very tired and overworked military. Plus, we treat our veterans and many of our citizens like crap. And that’s because, with few exceptions, our leaders aren’t leading.
 
Now, I sincerely hope nothing happens to this country; then again, how do we awaken the conscious of this land? What if China and North Korea, plus Iran were to collude against us? What would that look like? Do we want a non-White force to occupy this land before we get the message that our behavior toward those who differ is not acceptable? “White man slaps 19-month-old Black Baby”? White man with Swastika demands that no Black nurses are to touch his White Baby?
 
Why aren’t our national leaders leading? And why is it that many of them behave like political harlots? They peddle and their influence to the corporations rather than lead the country. And when does the supremacy stop?
Your thoughts are welcome.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback.

4 Responses

  • Tom Whalen says:

    Unfortunately, I think many of our white leaders are leading – leading us toward racism and division. Why do you think there has been this concerted campaign to frame Barrack Obama as a ethnic and cultural other? Why do you think the GOP tried everything in its power to make him a one term president? Why do you think we have seen the rise of the Tea Party, an organization with distinct racial underpinning? They believe that they can hang onto power by playing the white race card. And here I thought we lived in a post-racial America. How wrong I was.

    • Tom,
      I sincerely thank you for your comments. As you can see I have much “grit” in my craw from years, or decades, I should say, centuries of the same old song. There’s research published demonstrating that the type of behavior we see in general and discrimination in particular causes illness. When I first discovered it, I thought, “Yeah, right.” The more I read and thought, the more I realized that there’s merit in the research. Example, when one is constantly thinking of being rejected, or not accepted, ridiculed, not trusted, etc., anxiety sets in which becomes not just mentally but phycally exhausting plus, skin color (which one cannot change) is a primary source of degradation and rejection. Here are some findings:
      • “Racism-related stress is an etiological basis for dysfunction…”
      • “Wide spread racism has a negative effect on the psychological and physiological health of non-whites.”
      • “One may experience increased blood pressure, hypertension, poor immune system functioning, and a slower rate of healing as a result of stress-related psychosomatization.”
      As I read more, I likened it to PTSD: when one is constantly scared and under stress in a war zone, it works on one’s bodily systems.
      And that’s one of the reasons I say it just needs to stop.
      Thanks, Tom!

      • Bob Sprague says:

        Hi David- Stimulating words, always. Can you publish the source of the study you discussed: illness & racism? Thanks!

        • Bob,
          It’s great to hear from you and thanks for the comments. I am going to includes some titles here and attach some articles to an e-mail to you.
          This URL has many research pieces: http://scholar.harvard.edu/davidrwilliams/dwilliam/publications/prevalence-and-distribution-major-depressive-disorder-african-americans-caribb. Plus:
          1. Harrell, S. P. (2000). A Multidimensional Conceptualization of Racism Related Stress: Implications for the Well-Being of People of Color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70 (1), 42-57.

          2. Nyborg, V. M. & Curry, J. F. (2003). The Impact of Perceived Racism: Psychological Symptoms among African American Boys. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32 (2), 258-266.

          When I first heard about research re: stress related illnesses potentially caused by racism, I was very skeptical. And that’s because I like to challenge such assertions. And after reading some of the research, I reflected about how stress feels and what it does, relating it to being stressed for 365 days in a war zone, and what that does to one’s system. Long story short: I am more convinced now than before, though not 100%. So, I will post a few documents for your perusal. Also, under “Other Writings,” is my most recent publication re: the corporations; I will send it via e-mail.
          Thanks again, Bob
          David



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *