Racism Is - Monday, September 18, 2017

In a city in the South a statue of a Confederate General is torn town but racism continues.
In a city in the North a memorial to Confederate soldiers in a cemetery is removed but racism continues.
No destruction of memorials or Statues will remove the structural racism of our society.

Racism is taking money from public schools to fund segregated voucher and charter schools.
Racism is using zoning laws to keep housing segregated.
Racism is moving jobs out of city but not providing public transportation to the jobs.
Racism is no affordable housing in nicer white areas.
Racism is not replacing lead water pipes in racial segregated neighborhoods.
Racism is supporting Militarism, the Military Arms Industry.
Racism is supporting war, destruction, famine and ethnic cleansing in countries of ‘people of color’ around the world.

We need to tear down the structures, not statues, of racism.
Visit the County zoo, Universal Studios or Disneyland, go to a professional sports event or a performing arts production and the faces you see will be predominately white.
Black and brown faces are barred from these places not by race but by money, status and privilege.

Racism is real when my friend’s grandson is killed and there is hardly a mention of him in the media.
Racism is real when two African men are shot in a few days by police and information is withheld from the public.
Yet if a white man is killed or shot the media will be full of the story, who the person was and the suffering of his/her family.

We live in a society where white privilege is taken for granted and politicians do not talk about it.
Overt racism is condemned but structural racism goes unnoticed.
We live in a society where the Humane Society is to provide dogs and cats with health care, food and shelter
But do not live in a Humane Society where all humans have rights to health care, food and shelter

If we open our eyes and really see the hunger, despair and illness around us we would need to do something.
But we hide it in our cities and do not hear the cry of the poor,
We are quick to volunteer or donate to causes but do not hear or see people in need.
We need to stop being “colored blind” and see people of color.

The cure from Racism starts with each one of us looking into ourselves to see how this evil has crusted over our heart.
Than we need to join together rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrats and see the structures of racism in our city, state and USA. Working together we need to tear down the structures of racism be it in war, funding, housing, education, health care or criminal justice.