This is the third and final essay of our three-part series, purposed on the formulation of an effective response to the frustratingly enduring racial prejudice extant among individuals and hate groups in the Nation. The first of our series mandated the refusal to denominate any hate group or hater with any historically known referable title, to avoid the possible [mis]representation of accredited status or acceptability. The second writing recommends a candid inner audit to ferret out the possible existence of any repressed bias, so that one can more fairly, objectively, and capably deal with the problem.
In this third [and final] essay, we offer some personal observations accompanied by relevant recommendations, ideally, tending to the amelioration and ultimately, an effective societal reset of America’s historic travesty of racial inequality. We will deal with matters of societal import separately from those of individual relevance; however, to the extent that the individual can have a positive impact on the societal problem we, as noted, encourage specified individual intervention.
[National]: The accepted, salient, and defining feature of a “Republican Democracy,” is the universal right of each citizen of legal age, to vote. The recent providential defeat of Donald J. Trump and his replacement by the contrasting capable, humanistic, and responsible leadership of Joseph Biden, supplied an existentially necessary elixir for the recovery and health of the Nation.
The bigotry espoused by former President, Donald J. Trump, appears to have been of paramount significance among the reasons for the huge, and arguably determinative, number of votes for his opponent by citizens of color. The discernment of this empirical fact provided cynical impetus, for former Trump supporters in Congress and various State government, to wrongfully champion the enactment of legislation, tactically aimed at limiting the votes of America’s black citizens. This perverse intention, inarguably, amounts to an express repudiation of the fundamental essence of democracy, as well as an obvious demonstration of shameful and nihilistic bigotry.
Our first responsive recommendation, therefore, is that the morally inclined white citizen, alongside and in league with his fellow citizens of color, actively militate against this National travesty, by all legal and effective means; these include, correspondence with political officials, participation in peaceful public demonstrations and relevant public meetings, and when appropriate, overt, articulated expression of support for the American principle of democratic universality of the franchise to vote.
[Societal]: The most tragically repulsive and pathological examples of atavistic prejudice, have taken place in the dehumanization and genocidal homicide of unarmed black citizens by bigoted white police officers. Our dismay at the reality of the shocking numbers of such horrific acts is only exceeded by our utter frustration at the arbitrary injustice of the same; typically taking place during routine automobile stops of black drivers, for the most minor and paltry reasons. One black driver was shot and killed for having an aerosol can “blocking” his rear window, another for suspected expiration of license, and uncountable others for suspected minor driving offenses. The self-protected “blue wall” of constabulary institutional silence, has traditionally, prevented families, of the victims of such racially motivated, homicide, from seeking justice for their completely unjustified and irretrievable loss.
Unprecedented justice was at last granted in the recent and singularly rare, Minnesota criminal prosecution of a bigoted, [apparently psychopathic] police officer for cruelly choking the life out of a 46- year-old unarmed, black man, named George Floyd. The arrest concerned the relatively minor allegation of having passed a twenty-dollar counterfeit bill. The case was singular in the fact that the police commissioner and other uniformed officers, all from defendant’s precinct, unprecedently stepped out in front of the traditional impenetrable ”blue wall,” to, responsibly testify against defendant, their accused homicidal fellow officer. The miscreant police officer was unanimously (as required) declared guilty, by the jury on all three criminal charges. We, like most right-thinking citizens, were relieved and hopeful (albeit, experientially jaded) that this unique case will presage a wide-spread, positive result in police-black interaction. It may just, empirically, turn out that good cops are the necessary solution for the problems of the bad ones.
Our recommendation to the individual is that he exercise his influence, as possible, to advocate for the resumption of policing to its intended proper context, viz., as guardians of the citizenry and not self-appointed “confrontational, combat soldiers.”
[Individual]: In addition to his declared stand against immoral prejudice in the various ways noted above, the good citizen might consider being guided by the following:
During the process of early childhood lessons of belonging and identity, the parent or guardian must refrain from the temptation to emphasize the ultimately divisive conceptions of “we” and “they.” He should instead tutor the young child to enjoy appropriate pride in his birth- acquired ethnos, but also, to recognize that his is but one of many disparate and equally valuable world identities. Where possible, use “us” preferably, to “we.” This caution has far-reaching, consequential future impact.
When opportune and relevant, the individual citizen should definitively express himself in ardent support of the existential democratic cornerstone of universal equal rights; and vote for political candidates that espouse that ethical ideal.
He should, without hesitation, emphatically give voice to his outrage at any disparaging racial, ethnic, or racial humor or comments, as an overt declaration of his belief in citizen brotherhood.
Without hesitation, he should report observed or reported racial incidents of police abuse, official arbitrary denial of entitlements, or discriminatory administrative treatment, of any kind.
The citizen should, spontaneously and regularly, include individuals of disparate race, among his friendships and joint participants in social occasions, i.e., dinners, theater attendance, sporting events and picnics. By so doing, he would profitably acquire, as an extra corollary dividend, the subtle encouragement of his children to establish their own friendships without racial or ethnic criteria.
In the interest of plain justice and basic morality, right-thinking, white American citizens [especially] must effectively choose to, affirmatively and demonstrably, be allied with their fellow citizens of color in their fight for entitled equality. It has proven less productive, empirically, to simply be a supporter of civil rights; one must be an advocate and zealous activist in this vital and defining [American] reset.
-p.
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