Editorial
By: Kathleen Brush, Ph.D.
People familiar with America’s legal system are on solid ground saying this system is not systemically racist and this system is foundational to all of our systems. They are also on solid ground acknowledging that prior to 1964 and 1965 the United States legal system had many so-called Jim Crow laws that were racist. In 1964/1965 America killed its history of white supremacy and systemic racism.
If that is so, why are we told hourly that we are a systemically racist nation? Beyond political opportunism, we have new authors defining why America is systemically racist. According to the lead author of the NY Times Project 1619, Hannah Nicole Jones, America can never escape systemic racism because America possesses the original sin of slavery. Like the original original sin, this one can never be forgiven or erased. In building her case, no one would accuse her of being fair-minded with American history or unbiased towards whites.
Ibram X Kendi is a self-proclaimed anti-racist czar and author of How to be an Anti-Racist. He claims systemic racism in America is tied to the original sin of racism which he argues is unique to America. It’s apparent that Kendi has never stepped outside the USA or studied the history of racism around the world. Odd qualifications for an anti-racist czar, Kendi is outwardly and overtly racist against whites, and he unapologetically enjoys the company of anti-Semites.
It is in Critical Race Theory (CRT) where we find the basis of systemic racism that most BLM activists and advocates seem to stake their claims on.
Under CRT, systemic racism in America is found in the unconscious thoughts of Americans. These are the unconscious biases that the media has been prattling on about since President Obama was in office. Unconscious biases have been found to result in discriminatory actions about 4% of the time. This 4% includes discriminatory actions like someone rolling their eyes, and shrugging, or standing in a defensive posture. These actions paint a good picture of the severity of the claims of systemic racism in America, however, there are other examples that might seem more grave. A Latino choosing to donate to a charity in Argentina rather than Somalia, or a black person choosing to donate to a charity in Somalia rather than Argentina are exhibiting unconscious racial biases. Per CRT, until unconscious bias is eradicated there will continue to be systemic racism. It could be said that as long as there are people there will be systemic racism.
What about the ostensible systemic racism we hear about in law enforcement, healthcare, and education? America has entered a silly phase where all disproportionate outcomes are ipso facto racism. The problem is if people look under the covers, they would not find racism. They would find for example, that disproportionate health outcomes tie to different lifestyle decisions. Disproportionate educational outcomes tie to different values placed on education as seen, for example, through studying habits. Disproportional outcomes with law enforcement tie to the disproportional engagements in crime.
If anyone is interested in the analysis of disproportional outcomes in health care, the legal system or schools, or any other system please let me know. I have the analysis of the first three, but I also know that every time I decide to analyze the validity of a systemic racism claim it ends up as fake news.
Kathleen Brush, Ph.D. MBA is a management consultant that specializes in two areas: maximizing the outcomes from global strategies and improving organizational productivity by increasing the number of competent women in senior leadership.
Her Ph.D. is in management and international studies. She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive (CEO, GM, and CMO) for companies of all sizes, public and private, foreign and domestic. She has been conducting business internationally since 1988 and has overseen the successful sale of three companies.
Kathleen is an avid researcher and writer in her areas of specialization. Her articles and interviews have been published by Fox, CNBC, Fox Business, Washington Post, Newsweek Japan, CIO.com, The Street, Financial Times China, Bloomberg Business Week, Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Training Magazine.
Her books include: Racism and anti-Racism in the World: before and after 1945; Watch Your Back; The Power of One: You’re the boss; and A Brief History of International Relations: The World Made Easy. Currently in process and planned for publication in 2021 is Silent Sexism: Women wake up and take charge.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal
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