Trump’s Attack on Affirmative Action is Classic Racism
Att Gen Sessions & Trump. Image: politicususa.com
Trump and his racist Department of Justice chief are challenging college entrance affirmative action programs for people of color. This racist move is the height of hypocritical irony. For centuries it has been documented that Caucasians received preference in housing, employment, education, and other important segments of our society. The contemporary term for this racist legacy is “White Privilege.”
White people have been blind to, or have taken for granted their elevated or privileged stature in our society over the centuries. Us whites take for granted, and it is a display of hubris to expect that our advantage over people of color should be the norm. Affirmative Action for us whites has taken a very damaging toll on people of color. People of color have suffered in many ways including wealth building, education, housing, safety, health care, self-esteem, being the victims of malicious medical experimentation, and other aspects of life that make for a mentally and physically healthy life. There is only one race, the human race, not blacks, browns, “yellows”, or whites. The very idea of race is a fiction, an invention that the elites manipulate to create divisions and class struggles. Trump used the fallacious story as means to separate whites from blacks, when the real issue is economic status, not ethnicity.
Trump gained admission to the Wharton school of business and his son-in-law Jared Kusher gained admission to Harvard. Not based on acceptable high school grades or SAT test scores, but rather because their fathers promised generous donations to these prestigious universities. This is one of the most egregious examples of corrupt “White Affirmative Action”. Students with better grades or higher scores were denied admission to these high ranked schools due to Trumps’ and Kushner’s fathers bribing school officials. No one in the Justice Department seems to be prosecuting this admissions policy injustice.
Up until 1965 people of color were excluded from buying homes in certain predominantly white housing developments. Our racist government loan policies were administered through FHA and VA programs. Westlake in Daly City and Levittown in Long Island are two examples of significant exclusionary housing programs that made it legal to exclude the purchase of homes by people of color. Much of working class wealth is held in home equity. Without this available use of capital that could be used to finance college educations, other investments, or the purchase of rental properties, blacks fell further behind in economic status. As a result people of color lagged way behind middle-class whites in wealth formation.
Before 1945 and after the Civil War many black males were kept in de facto slavery or unjustly imprisoned through a peonage system that was mostly carried on in the South. If an uneducated black man were walking on the street and was not currently employed, he would be arrested for the alleged crime of vagrancy. He would have to work off fines, court costs, etc. through being leased to an owner of a farm, timber operation, coal or steel mill. Since he was not the property of the business owner he many times was more harshly treated than slaves before the 13th Amendment. He would be over worked, under fed, severely beaten, or even killed without penalty to the business owner. This oppressive de facto slavery system kept black men from voting, going to school, taking care of their families, or being an important participant in our society.
Before the 1960’s, craft unions, such as machinists, electricians, plumbers excluded people of color and women from many of these high paid jobs. That put up another wall to black wealth building. Traditionally blacks have been the last hired and first fired. They are given the worst employment in a particular job sector.
Affluent white males enjoy exclusive membership in golf courses, clubs, and societies that give their participants an opportunity to network for both business and wealth building advantage.
Up until the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act, people of color were excluded in transportation, housing, educational, vocational, financial, and other important societal opportunities.
We have never given people of color any substantive reparations or compensation for their decades of oppression, mistreatment, and societal subordination. In the main, if we whites, because of guilt or charity give up a small portion of our taken for granted years of privilege, it’s a small price to pay for our de facto “White Privilege.” Shame on the present racist Republican political majority for even entertaining the idea of destroying minimal affirmative action programs. Have these Republicans no heart or empathy of those people of color who we have consciously oppressed in so many ways. I really do not want to hear “Dog Whistle” shouts about whites being the object of discrimination.
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