The Future: Race and Race Relations in the Next Twenty Years

Race and Race Relations in the Next Twenty Years

Race is a critical factor in looking at the future.

 The Zimmerman trial and what it might indicate for the future and needs to be discussed

The mind-set of juror B37-what it may mean for race relations now and twenty years from now.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/55035/what-juror-b37-s-comments-reveal-about-white-womanhood

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/27/10894561-zimmerman-accused-of-domestic-violence-fighting-with-a-police-officer?lite

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/zimmerman-myspace-page_n_1471818.html

7/18/13

What one poll says on the Zimmerman case

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/george-zimmerman-poll_n_3612308.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
More later: Next up:

Race in America: What can be done?
The question on the table is how historically have societies solved racial problems? We take a look.
 7/19/13

In looking at racism and trying to predict what will happen in the US and the world in the next twenty years is a daunting task.

What we what to focus on here is the historical experience with racism and how particular countries and societies have dealt with it.

In doing so we have the following questions in mind, and,  from the answers derived thereto, predict the future. Ha. You see this is not going to be easy.
But easy is not what we do in these blogs so lets get started. Here are a few questions to keep in mind as we do the work of this in the next few days:
1 What is racism?
2. Whose problem is it to solve?
3. What have been the historical outcomes in societies which have struggled with it?
4. What are the institutional vs. the individual aspects of racism?
5. Who benefits from racism?
6. Who loses?
7. Is there money in racism?
8. What are the preventatives: that is things we can do to root it out and or prevent it.
9. What is the psychology of the racist and the racially oppressed.
10. Racism as opportunism.=
11. Institutional supports for racisms and examples of its enforcement by nation states.
12. Racial treatment as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
13. Racism as a part of exploitation and colonialism
14. Racism as a justification for violence and discrimination.
15. Racism, slavery and profits
16. Racism immigration, jobs and power
17. Racism vs. Color Bias
18. Local bias and day to day experiences with racial attitudes
19. Race and Voting
20. What does the DNA evidence show about race?

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/17/2313571/top-pennsylvania-republican-admits-voter-id-helped-suppress-obama-voters/?mobile=nc

20. Race and Political Power


A lot huh? Well, lets get started.
 

"Debates over the origins of racism often suffer from a lack of clarity over the term. Many conflate recent forms of racism with earlier forms of ethnic and national conflict. In most cases ethno-national conflict seems to owe to conflict over land and strategic resources. In some cases ethnicity and nationalism were harnessed to wars between great religious empires (for example, the Muslim Turks and the Catholic Austro-Hungarians). As Benedict Anderson has suggested in Imagined Communities, ethnic identity and ethno-nationalism became a source of conflict within such empires with the rise of print-capitalism.
In its modern form, racism evolved in tandem with European exploration and conquest of much of the rest of the world, and especially after Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. As new peoples were encountered, fought, and ultimately subdued, theories about “race” began to develop, and these helped many to justify the differences in position and treatment of people whom they categorized as belonging to different races (see Eric Wolf’s Europe and the People Without History).
Another possible source of racism is the misunderstanding of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution. Some took Darwin’s theories to imply that since some “races” were more civilized, there must be a biological basis for the difference. At the same time they appealed to biological theories of moral and intellectual traits to justify racial oppression. There is a great deal of controversy about race and intelligence, in part because the concepts of both race and IQ are themselves controversial.

From: http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism

Some more background.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/83102943/

"World racism - Is racism an international issue?

"Racism is a matter of growing concern amongst the nations of the world. Far from being a social ill restricted to one or two countries, the moral disease of racism spans communities, countries, and continents. Racism is a complex issue. At the core of any working definition of racism is the unspoken ingredient of fear. People around the world all belong to the same human race; they share the same tendencies to fear, domination, and subjugation. Hence, inevitably, racism is a world-wide issue. Darwin’s controversial theory of evolution has contributed to the ignorance fueling racial conflicts. Over the years, peoples and nations exhibiting higher degrees of civilization have been deemed racially superior."

From: http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/world-racism-faq.htm


http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/2003/race.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/28172/rhistor2.htm

http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/1609

http://realtruth.org/articles/100210-003-analysis.html
 
These are a few items to start with. You might want to add a few questions of our own.
After elucidating the problem we look at solutions. Yes, there are solutions despite what apologists might say.

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1173.aspx
 7/18/13
Obama speaks on the Trayvon Martin Case.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/312297-obama-says-trayvon-could-have-been-me-in-stark-comments-on-race

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/obama-stand-your-ground_n_3624594.html
 http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/19/2331481/four-charts-that-prove-obamas-right-about-being-black-in-america/

McCain speaks out on Stand Your Ground Laws

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/21/19597091-mccain-joins-obama-in-calling-for-review-of-stand-your-ground-laws

Is the Trayvon case a conspiracy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uAZqMaBY2MI
 7/19/13

Staying in Touch
All the Tweets of Lonnie Hicks in one spot. Updated Daily

http://www.allmytweets.net/index.php
 7/20/13

So what are some of the solutions or outcomes to racism evident in history?
By way of preview, outcomes historically have included outcomes both good and bad.
The good outcomes have been facilitated by:
1. Intermarriage, Cultural and Religious Meldiing
 This is the likely dynamic which will eventually dominate outcomes in the US. When the so-called "races" interact (race is a myth) family and social ties overwhelm racial fears and animosities.

Personal racism one on one is rare. (Class is in really more important in the US than race, if you think about it)

 Racism, too, is most rampant the less contact two groups have with one another.

This intermarriage factor has happened over and over again in history, used most effectively by the Romans and especially by Alexander the Great who forced his generals to marry into the royal families of the conquered peoples.

Intermarriage has long been used to end racial animosities as we see historically when daughters for centuries have been married off to rival kings and princes. There was a reason for this intermarriage tactic.

 After all, Cleopatra was a Ptolemy decended from Alexander's General Ptolemy and is an important example of how race and cultural outcomes have really worked successfully in the past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_I_Soter

This was integration at the highest levels as well as lower levels. After the fall of the city of Rome much of the Roman army was not conquered but merely left their encampments, when not paid, and intermarried with local populations. This is part of the real history of Rome, seldom told.

The Romans had an empire based on force but also because they were smart in offering freedom and Roman citizenship and inter-marriage to the millions conquered in their wars of conquest.

Rome was the most cosmopolitan city in the world for centuries, where Romans learned from other cultures and used trade and contact and diversity in a brilliant way to maintain their power.
America in the next twenty years will see more religious, racial, and cultural intermarriages and with any luck this cultural and demographic juggernaut will overcome senseless and antiquated racism.

http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/intermarriage-statistics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_marriage

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-02-16/local/35442695_1_larry-shinagawa-intermarriage-asians-and-hispanics

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-02-16/local/35442695_1_larry-shinagawa-intermarriage-asians-and-hispanics

Race and On-Line Dating

http://healthland.time.com/2013/11/04/hope-for-online-dating-study-shows-its-less-segregated/

Cultural integration and religion intermarriages

http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/intermarriage-statistics/

These are outcomes and trends common in history and have occured over and over again from even a cursory look at history in many countries. Why textbooks don't teach this is obvious.
The real danger is that those opposed to these outcomes will seek to spark more animosity, even race war, rather that contemplate changes of that kind.

The fear of inter-marriage is at the heart of what those who would not like to see current trends expand or grow.

Bi-racial, bi-cultural people seek peace among the races, not wars. We have only to look to Barack Obama as a bi-racial president (not black mind you) to see the future of this country.
 What are the interracial marriage trends in the US?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States

More solutions tomorrow
 7/21/13
 What have been other trends on the positive side that have resulted in the elimination or reductions in racial attitudes?

I will do an interim summary here and then go back for detail. But some of the short answers are:

1. Racism diminishes when minorities gain financial power and control jobs in important sectors of an economy. People care more about money than their own racism and, by the way, there are no race riots in the winter.

2.Racism diminishes when minorities or racialized groups gain political power and can disperse political goodies and money. Poof. Race seems to matter less.

3. Racism diminishes when people have sustained close relationships where class matters more than skin color.
4. Racism diminishes when people go to war together
5. Racism diminishes as pointed out above when intermarriage, inter-religion, and intercultural contacts become widespread.
6. Racism diminishes when the nation-state sees profit or benefit from diminishing it, utilizing  education, media and other aspects to commit to eliminating it.

7. Racism diminishes where citizens take responsibility for their own racial behaviors.
There are others which could be mentioned but let's, next time, go to examples of the above.
 By way of a thought experiment, I should point out that every immigrant group was racialized when they first came to this country they being stigmatized primarily to force them into low pay dirty jobs, for profit by the robber barrons.

1. The Irish (the "Black Irish" were, 300 years ago, considered to be sub-human)
2. The Italians were "dirty"
3. The Jews (still ongoing)
4. The Blacks (still ongoing)
5. The Indians (India, Indians)
6. The Indians (still ongoing)
7. Eastern Europeans
8. Russians
9. The Chinese
10. The Japanese
11. The Germans
12. The British
13. The French
14. Latin Americans
Long list huh?

 Many of these folks went through Ellis island, saw the Statute of Liberty, which has an astounding story connected to slavery and connected to the Statute itself.
(See http://www.youtube.com watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T4tLaNeg9GA)

 I could go on. But the interesting question is how were racial attitudes against these groups over-come (yes, some have not, but most have been overcome and in turnsadly, racialized new immigrants. All of them were taught to discriminate against blacks and ceased to being Europeans and became "white" a political designation that did not exist anywhere hitherto. Caucasion is a made of category to further racial goals. These Europeans in America bought into it for some very real reasons.
 How did all this work? Refer to the list above and we get back tomorrow for the details.

Meantime the library is open.
http://www.understandingrace.org/history/index.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_and_ethnic_discrimination_in_the_United_States
 http://www.wmich.edu/hhs/newsletters_journals/jssw_institutional/institutional_subscribers/39.1.Cribbs.pdf
 http://www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/sunday-review/has-caucasian-lost-its-meaning.html?_r=0

Does more education mean less racism?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130811005342.htm

Racism is a cultural artifact?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929144713.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108144747.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100112121948.htm
 7/23/13

Day to day Institutionalized Racism.
An important point to be made here is that racial attitudes are and were learned and not about race at all, since race is a political and cultural construction.

If powerful institutions designate redheads as undesirable, lazy and dangerous, a country could in time come to discriminate against these redheads and use this stigma in competing for jobs, profits and even enslavement.
Thus, racism is culturally and politically enforced each and every day-because somebody is getting a great deal out of it and making money off of it.
This profit idea is the last I will look at today. Here's how the profit side works.

For example:
Redheads can be discriminated and I can make money off them and increase my profits if:
 
1. I can enslave them and/or impoverish them which morphs into free or low cost labor. An entire economy can be built off free or low and no cost labor with discrimination as the driver.  China comes to mind.

 2. In housing I can never repair Redhead housing  and rent it at high prices and sell at high prices and maximizing profits by never repairing properties thereby driving down prices ultimately; and then come back and buy back those now low cost housing, gentrify the neighborhoods and make big profits because the poor redheads have been dislocated or priced out of the new high price neighborhood. Happens all the time all over the West.
3. Food profits can be maintained or made higher  because the food companies know poor people are not mobile, especially as fuel prices rise, they ,therefore, shop locally and therefore I can give them low quality seconds and even tainted food and charge them even higher prices than in other more affluent  neighborhoods. The poor redheads don't complain and even if they did no one cares or listens.

Food deserts happen as well.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/17760-food-for-body-food-for-thought-food-for-justice-peoples-grocery-in-oakland-california

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131203124526.htm
4. In clothing, drugs, heath care, education, wages, insurances, mortgages, loans, media all have the same patterns. This is what is meant by institutionalized racism. It sticks, remains and grows, because institutions are making money and profits off of it and entire economies become and are dependent upon its continued existence, (The south anyone?)and cultural and racial silos become entrenched segregated communities and  jobs come to be dependent upon maintaining these silos. Everyone, race, sex, class etc become dependent upon these patterns, one against the other, for their jobs. Segregation has become monetized.

 In fact, it is clear that American society would likely collapse into yet another recession-depression if this form of institutionalized racism were to end suddenly. It is lodged in and is now seen as indispensable to American prosperity and life style. A day without Mexican and minorities working the low and no paying jobs, college kids working for nothing  would have genuine economic consequences in this distorted American economy.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/53669/the-unethical-thing-the-justice-department-did-to-its-youngest-lawyers
Yet this state of affairs can be broken and changed.

Now some have mentioned that racism can end badly. True.
Racism can end in genocide, race wars, religious wars, cultural wars, resources wars, and poverty and oppression by one group considering itself superior and bent on exterminating another deemed inferior.
History certainly provides us with numerous examples of these outcomes.
What is cynical about much of that history is that elites learned long ago that pitting one group against another, one "race" against another, one sex or gender against another, one class against another  is an excellent way to divide and conquer and maintain domination over all of the groups in society. Indeed, I am thinking this is one of the dominant outcomes  in history-one seldom, if ever, discussed.

So the story of racism not only often does not end well, but note, as well  in its institutionalized forms, has been singularly destructive, if not one of the most destructive forces in all of history, hence, the critical importance of addressing it as a critical issue.

In the United States, as in many many other countries, race is at once what is being exploited and also contested. We had a civil war over race, we had wars against Indians over race, we racialized the Japanese and put them in interment camps, we racialized every single immigrant group to come to America, the Latinos only the latest; we enslaved Africans, colonized people of color all around the world, and in last forty years with the Southern Strategy of the South, the Republicans have created divisions over race as the unstated basis of America politics. Race matters, however, only because America's prosperity is based upon race in so many fields from housing, to cheap labor, to race based media, to jobs--we could go on. If race discrimination were eliminated or even to seriously abated America would teeter and have to find a new basis for society, economics and prosperity.

Through it all Americans have been blinded by a divide and rule tactic and have failed to see this is a deliberate strategy of the monied classes and only benefits them with so-called "white" masses seeing that they benefit go along. After all if the choice is go along with this state of affairs or lose one's job, or be ostracized, most have chosen the later while blinding themselves to the fact that this is what they have done and are currently doing.

7/25/13

Race and the battle of the ballot box

Department of Justice moves to block Texas new voting laws.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/313535-texas-gop-pans-holder-move
 7/26/13

How white Americans are and have been harmed by racism. Brilliant video.

http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=420&template=PDGCommTemplates/HTN/Item_Preview.html
 Zimmerman again in the news-Juror says:"He got away with murder."
This case will not go away. The media see it as ratings, profits and dividing the races to be benefit of elites.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/25/3521482/final-juror-in-zimmerman-case.html

  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/07/25/juror-says-zimmerman-got-awa/2587533/
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/romany-malco/a-message-to-trayvon-mart_b_3612231.html

 http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/2587533