Writing in Time magazine, columnist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes: "This fist-shaking of everyone’s racial agenda distracts America from the larger issue that the targets of police overreaction are based less on skin color and more on an even worse Ebola-level affliction: being poor. Of course, to many in America, being a person of color is synonymous with being poor, and being poor is synonymous with being a criminal. Ironically, this misperception is true even among the poor... And that’s how the status quo wants it..."
As Mr. Abdul-Jabbar indicates, Racism isn't dead, despite the milestone of the election of America's first African-American President. But the issue of racial discrimination and conflict is only heightened by the economics of racism. As Mr. Abdul-Jabbar points out, black on white racism does not substantially impact the economic well being of white Americans, but white on black racism certainly does.
The shooting of Michael Brown and other recent shootings of the other unarmed young black men by police should not be a viewed as an ugly news item to be shrugged off and forgotten til the next time. The chaos in Ferguson, Missouri is ugly, but represents the anger of one particular community forgotten, and generally represents the reminder that the USA in the 21st century has profound issues regarding racial and economic inequality that have yet to be addressed.
Full article here
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.