|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
During the first speech of her 2024 presidential campaign Wednesday, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said something that got half the country confused as hell.
The Republican candidate had the nerve to say that “America is not a racist country.”
That’s right, America America.
“Every day we’re told America is flawed, rotten, and full of hate,” Haley said. “America is racist. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
ANY person who has been even semi-conscious in America over the last 10 years knows just how absurd the statement Nikki Haley said really is. We have entire generations who have lived through some of America’s most racist times. The memories of being shot with water cannons etched in their minds, the bite marks from police dogs that were unleashed to attack them, or the increasing number of assaults happening towards minorities over the last decade.
To claim that America is not a racist country when the very foundation that this country rests on is held together by the blood, sweat, and tears of Black people is to claim that America is not a country at all.
Someone tell Nikki Haley racism is as American as apple pie
When Black ranchers are terrorized by their White neighbors akin to the terrorization by the KKK, that’s racism.
When entire communities are awarded more than $30 million in a historic redlining settlement, that’s racism.
When those same communities have their property appraised at a lower value than when their White friends have that exact same property appraised, that’s racism.
When Black people are five times as likely to have their taxes audited, that’s racism.
When White police chiefs are caught on a recording using the N-word saying “f**k them Black bastards”, that’s racism.
When imprisoned Black men are attacked by White supremacists orchestrated by prison guards or the prison guards themselves attack a shackled Black inmate, that’s racism.
Hell, we even gave an entire name to White ladies who practice racism in their free time, Karen!
These are just stories that our very limited newsroom were able to cover, and they’re stories from only the past five months. Of course, there are thousands more that don’t get covered and racist systems in place that one simple story couldn’t do justice.
Racism is about as American as baseball or apple pie.
I used to think that once the older generation who committed the racist acts (and the White moderates who stood by in compliance) died off, then America would be able to turn over a new leaf.
But every day I am unfortunately reminded that racism doesn’t die off with the physical bodies. It is a plague that has infected the minds of millions since our country’s birth, both intentionally and unintentionally.
Racism is taught. And it is not something that magically goes away because one person stands in front of a mic one day and claims it’s gone.