The US is a Place of Harm: Racism and the Politics of Scarcity
I think we are actually protesting what this country does to people — however, it’s not just the racism or fascism, but it is the racial capitalism that fuels it all.
I’m writing this after white terrorism in Buffalo that claimed the life of beautiful Black people. I’m addressing not only the mindset of the terrorist, but also a significant root of racism that needs to be seriously talked about and disrupted- Poverty and the lies and complacency that justify it. Normalized inequality promotes racist stereotypes at all times and during hard times, people can be more racist.
Poverty is really a great evil and is a social construction. We create it and rationalize it and it’s a huge driver of normalized racial prejudice.
In order to justify poverty, you have to do one of two things. (1) View it and decide it is in fact unjust and evil, and you still don’t care or be slightly sympathetic, or (2) believe that the people experiencing poverty are there because they deserve to be there.
Black and Brown people are in many (but not most or all) areas disproportionately experiencing poverty because of historic racism in housing and education.
Because people need to protect their egos as human beings, they won’t continually view poverty as evil. They need to convince themselves that they care about people unless people deserve their circumstances. As Dr. Joy DeGruy stated about whites that perpetuated slavery, in order to continue justifying it, people had to convince themselves of lies about Black people to resolve any cognitive dissonance with the mindset- “now I can go to sleep because I’m not really dealing with a human being.” Or, I’m dealing with somebody who deserves the situation their in, not somebody like me.
So there you have it- a main driver of racial prejuidice. In order to justify societies ills, you have to believe that people are experiencing those things because they deserve it and that you have achieved things because you’re better or better at making decisions. I don’t think you are. I don’t think I am. This is what people are talking about when they mention the “myth” of meritocracy. Sure, everybody is working hard- but you don’t deserve what you have more than people experiencing poverty. And since representations of poverty and crime in the media are disproportionately of Black people, let me say it like this- you don’t deserve what you have more than Black people.
People believe Black people are lazy, are takers, are criminals, are liars, etc. But it is really their own racism rooted in protecting their egos because of a system of poverty created by this nation. It’s important to talk about the social, interpersonal, and internal bias aspects of racism. But racism (and classism) are truly rooted in economics, resources, and the politics of scarcity.
So yeah, the US is a place that normalizes racial harm through inequality. We have to ask ourselves, for example, why is Dr. King remembered for nice quotes about racial harmony and not for critiquing poverty and calling for economic justice?
So everyday WE (who you can choose to join) wake up to do a few things: (1) practice harm reduction in as many areas as possible in everyday life (i.e. how we teach, how we work, and how we treat people), (2) create moments and places of refuge for ourselves and with each other, and (3) reimagine the world around us and seek liberation and transformation.