Ferguson to Baltimore: taking on institutionalized racism
Second day of peaceful Freddie Gray protest in Baltimore. Demotix/ Angel Mayas. All rights reserved.In the months following a police officer’s killing of unarmed
African-American teenager, Michael Brown, on August 9, 2014 something changed. Ferguson, Missouri
quickly became the improbable backdrop for the beginning of a movement that propelled the American nation into a debate on race and inequality
within our communities. As
more instances of civil resistance are being publicized, leading US
universities are also beginning to offer courses on The Ferguson Movement. And it’s true, Ferguson sparked greater appreciations of racial,
cultural, and political sensitivities in the US, an awareness that also resonated internationally.
These issues have not emerged only
recently after all, and they will continue to manifest. However, they are emerging more
prominently and easily through other mediums, such as social media. This is
evident, amongst other things, in the series of hash-tags surfacing in recent
months. #Dontgunmedown, for example, is visible on the mural on the first floor
at The Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. Mainstream media sources
no longer have a monopoly on the news, so more information is getting out,
representing a plurality of views. But it’s important that we don’t let this
opportunity to take on institutionalized racism become
just a moment in our society.
To prolong the moment, laws,
policies, and regulations promulgated at the federal, state, and local-level
could start by placing greater emphasis on economic, social, and cultural human
rights. We are ensured the right to vote; can we also be ensured the right to
equal, high quality education and healthcare? The United States has a way to
go, but could start by ratifying ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We are one of few
countries, including Comoros, Cuba, and Palau, which have not ratified the treaty.
Furthermore, these remedies must
be coordinated from both the bottom and the top. As compatriots who have
been unaware of these issues are becoming more concerned with the systematic
failures and cracks in our social, economic, and political fabric, there should
also be increased institutionalized support for grassroots initiatives, such as Diverse Groups in Atlanta. Diverse Groups is a dialogue group that meets on a monthly basis
to discuss “issues of diversity with neighbors from diverse backgrounds”.
We can't continue blaming the
victims of marginalized and disenfranchised communities for their inability to
integrate and subsequent resentment towards society without asking more
questions. Integration, implies two things coming together to become one whole.
It is distinct from assimilation, which demands individuals being absorbed into
a wider society or culture, implying that nationals must renounce their
multiplicity of affiliations to completely assume and fully embrace their
“host-country identity”. We should understand identities are not mutually
exclusive. In many instances, the US has encouraged a culture of integration
and accepting different cultures as part of a whole.
Unfortunately, we've also witnessed reversals of this attitude,
including: a public apology for a
student reciting the pledge of allegiance in Arabic; a case to remove affirmative action from
universities going up to Supreme Court level; and an unfair immigration system that does
not even protect basic rights of non-citizens. These are just a few examples of
our public policies and opinions that contradict core American values.
Increasingly, minority
demographics are effortlessly expected to fully assimilate to, and represent,
an inconsistent understanding of what it is to be a "true American"
and propagate "true American values". What are these values? Equal
opportunities? Freedom of expression? Protection of human rights principles? If
so, the US is building a frightening track record of alienating and insensitive
behavior.
It is time to take our
responsibilities seriously and check our priorities. Should they really entail spending $62.5 million in tax dollars on nine
drones that apprehended less than 2% of immigrants last year? It would be more in line with our
purported common values to address the fact that Hispanic residents are
almost three times less likely to have
health insurance than white Americans.
Many in the US are aware of the
importance of elevating the multiplicity of cultures and fluidity of
identities that the American people embody. Still, these efforts are tainted by
poorly planned policies, combined with disparate access to information. Widespread
inequality, and urban
planning policies that propagate segregation, compounded with widespread messaging of counterproductive
stereotypes are aggravating the situation. It is therefore important to keep these issues at
the top of our agenda, and ensure that the information shared on these matters
is comprehensive, easily accessible, and representing a diversity of views. Far
too many Americans have suffered, from Ferguson to Baltimore.
We no longer have laws that
segregate our societies, but those laws were not repealed that long ago. In a 1999 interview, Angela Davis said, “Racism is a much more clandestine, much more
hidden kind of phenomenon, but at the same time it’s perhaps far more terrible
than it’s ever been.” We have a rare opportunity now to change this if we seize
it.