Our Real Problem With Racism Is Our Response To It

Temporary responses to the permanence of racism is getting us nowhere.  As it is the cycle, once the offenders of racism issue their apologetic platitudes, we are soon thereafter pacified back to neutral.

We are too easily placated with interim damage control in the form of sensitivity forums, promotional opportunities and temporary access.  Our short term memory of the sustained offenses against our humanity has been an ongoing problem in our community.
We fail ourselves with acceptance of these cosmetic fixes.

Further, it is an endeavor far too great and even impractical to change the hearts and minds of people who deny our humanity and the suffering such refusal has created.  Instead, we must do the internal work of examining ourselves and start the corollary work to create sustained change.

We must arrive at the pivotal moment wherein we recognize our own humanity.  And unite.  Unity should be our first response.  Unity creates unending and sound rewards.  In unity is where we will achieve freedom, justice and equality.

We need unity-but not the unity of a temporary boycott with a start and end date.  We require a lasting unity to create lasting solutions to:
•improve health outcomes
•reduce violence
•increase employability and employment options
•create economic development.

Our refusal to work in unity with our own people maintains our continued vulnerability to the effects of racism.  For example consider this:

One dollar circulates within the Asian community for an entire month before being spent outside their community.  One dollar circulates 20 days in the Jewish community.  A dollar circulates 17 days in the white community.  But in the black community, one dollar circulates a dismal six hours.  Yes!  Six hours!  Essentially, the dollar is already spent when it reaches our hand.
What would the impacts be in our community if we circulated not just our dollars, but also our talents, qualifications and resources amongst our own people as in the examples of the Asian and Jewish community?

In response to racism, we can take the following actions to create an abiding change in the physical and mental condition of our people:

1. Unite our education, resources and qualifications
2. Make our own communities decent places to live
3. Develop our own schools and medical clinics
4. Stop chasing luxury retail with excessive spending
5. Develop and maintain our own economic systems
6. Give fearless black politicians who speak on our behalf the full weight of our backing

These six steps are a great and necessary beginning.  Countless stories are being told of the medical industry ignoring health concerns of black women.  Our total lack of wealth is indicative of our extreme overspending, making the already rich even richer and our status-seeking through retail.  We allow our bold and honest politicians to be muzzled and rendered weak because we are not unequivocal in our support of them.  In schools, curriculum continues to be taught with a Eurocentric spin and a revisionist underlay.  And we contribute to our own low group esteem in how we permit our communities to fall into obscene disrepair and filth.

If we take the above six steps, the racial insensitivities of Prada, Gucci, Sidewalk Sally, Barbecue Becky, politicians and media would be of little importance to us.  But when our focus is on acceptance, tolerance and inclusion we will remain vulnerable.  We should learn what we teach our children.  Everybody does not have to like you.  But everybody has to respect you.  Applying the steps above will force that respect because unity is always respected and unity is respected by everyone.