This view is not popular in America, but it exists and should be heard without fear of retailiation by those who disagree. The following is an opposing view on the popular notion of "systemic racisim."
Mr. Red, Mr. Black, and Mr. Tan were born in the same city at the same time. Each is a third-generation American and each is raised by a single mother in the same school system. Each came from ancestors who suffered under systemic racism.
Mr. Red is Irish with light hair and skin and blue eyes. His forefathers were harshly treated when they migrated to America in the early 1900’s. They were marginalized, targeted, and denied basic freedoms.
Mr. Black is Ugandan with dark hair and skin and brown eyes. His ancestors were among the African tribesmen who captured other Africans and sold them to slave traders. His own heritage never included slavery and his grandparents migrated to America with considerable wealth due to their ancestors' success as slave traders.
Mr. Tan is Asian with medium hair and skin and narrow eyes. His forefathers were abused when they migrated to America, but they endured the harsh treatment, poor living conditions, and kept pursuing their dream.
Each man looks completely different but their early experiences and opportunities are nearly identical.
In high school, they each got part-time jobs. Mr. Red saved for college, Mr. Black bought beer for his parties, and Mr. Tan opened a small business. They each graduated high school and applied for college grants. Mr. Red was rejected, because even though his grades were good, he was not a minority and did not help them fill their quota. Mr. Black was given a full ride, even though he barely passed high school, because his college needed to recruit more minorities. Mr. Tan skipped college because his business was doing well enough to open another store.
Mr. Red worked hard in college but also worked a part-time job to pay expenses. His grades suffered, but he kept going until he brought them back up. Mr. Black partied through college, never worrying about bills because he played football on a scholarship. Mr. Tan took night courses after working 18-hour days so he could learn better business practices.
Mr. Red graduated with a significant student loan which he intended to pay as soon as he finished med school. Mr. Black dropped most of his courses when his girlfriend got pregnant. But he wasn't worried. She was an unemployed single minority, so her bills were covered.
Mr. Tan also had debt, but his businesses were doing well and he set up a loan repayment plan.
A pickup full of rednecks targeted Mr. Black who was innocently walking down the street. They shouted racist names and pretended to shoot him before roaring away in a cloud of dust. Someone captured this on a smartphone and uploaded it to social media. Mr. Black's friends were outrageded and staged a riot in his honor. The riot blocked traffic, keeping Mr. Red from getting to the hospital on time for an important interview. He was severely reprimanded by the black head nurse who muttered something about “dumb Irishmen.”
A few months later, Mr. Red was turned down again for medical school because he was not a minority. He also learned that his government will tax him for reparations to pay Mr. Black for systemic racism. The unemployed Mr. Black joined marches and riots. He was interviewed on the news, blaming systemic racism for getting him kicked out of college and forcing him to go on welfare. He felt justified when he bashed Mr. Tan’s store window and took a flat-screen TV. After all, he was a victim of systemic racism.
Mr. Black believes what he is told, that marches, riots, and looting will convince racists and skinheads to stop being racist. He is assured that committing crimes will convince all of America that black people are not criminals.
Mr. Red is informed that he is also racist because he does not agree that he has been part of any systemic racism. He suggests that the Irish should also be paid reparations because of the way they were treated when they arrived in America. Mr. Tan suggests something similar about his grandparents, but he too is told he is racist. So he quietly scrubs “Go Home, Chink” from his storefront by himself. He will also be taxed to pay Mr. Black for systemic racism.
Mr. Red has never held any ill-will toward Mr. Black, but now he does. Mr. Tan just wants to live the American dream his grandfather suffered for him to have. He’s had a great relationship with all his customers, no matter what color they were, but now he feels anxious when Mr. Black enters his store. The window hasn’t been repaired yet and he can’t afford to replace it twice. He’s seen Mr. Black on the internet, pillaging in his neighborhood, but he knows if he says anything, he will be targeted again. So he ducks his head and studies the new tax bill he must pay to Mr. Black for systemic racism.
“This is how we end racism!” screams the purple-haired woman on TV. “Black lives matter!” In response, the crowd goes wild and tips over a police car containing two black officers.
Mr. Tan nods as he watches on his TV with a cracked screen, damaged the night of the first riots. Black lives do matter, he thinks. But why are we only hearing about systemic racism against black people? What laws are they demanding be changed? Hasn’t that already happened? Will marches and riots change hearts committed to being racist?
Mr. Red is now Dr. Red. He gently tends to the wounds of a black woman injured when the rioters bashed in her front door. She was suspected of disagreeing with the mobs when she'd called the police. Dr. Red knows she will walk from the ER having paid nothing for her excellent care. The hospital won’t be paid much for this either, because the woman is a minority with free healthcare. She’s brought four fatherless children in numerous times for minor complaints because it costs her nothing. Meanwhile, Dr. Red’s dad is still trying to pay off his one trip to the ER for a ruptured appendix.
Dr. Red’s attending physician is an older black man who has suffered under senseless racism. He knows the pain of being ostracized for being a black man. But he's also watched the cutlure change and feels a deep sense of satisfaction that he is now head of his department. He would never have been given such opportunities in his native Sri Lanka. He disagrees with the mob but must remain silent, knowing if he raised objections, he would be targeted by his own people.
So what is owed any of these men? Is there only one "victim" here? Is it right to elevate one minority group over the others and declare that the rest must pay reparations because of past injustices?
Every people group experiences some form of injustice. One-half of the population is a greater risk of violence than the other half simply because they are female. But calling all males rapists is not the answer. Violence and anarchy will not change a rapist--or a racist. Evil is in the heart, not in a system that has worked overtime to ensure minorities are treated equally.
In the last fifty years, reverse racism has become normative, but since it is re-labeled equality it is praised as just and fair. Mr. Red and Mr. Tan come from heritages with far more racist treatment than Mr. Black's, but they dare not speak their minds because doing so labels them racists. The reverse hatred aimed toward them is now called righteous and a new, unwanted racism begins in each of their hearts.
“This is how we end racism!” screams the purple-haired woman on TV. “Black lives matter!” In response, the crowd goes wild and tips over a police car containing two black officers.
Mr. Tan nods as he watches on his TV with a cracked screen, damaged the night of the first riots. Black lives do matter, he thinks. But why are we only hearing about systemic racism against black people? What laws are they demanding be changed? Hasn’t that already happened? Will marches and riots change hearts committed to being racist?
Mr. Red is now Dr. Red. He gently tends to the wounds of a black woman injured when the rioters bashed in her front door. She was suspected of disagreeing with the mobs when she'd called the police. Dr. Red knows she will walk from the ER having paid nothing for her excellent care. The hospital won’t be paid much for this either, because the woman is a minority with free healthcare. She’s brought four fatherless children in numerous times for minor complaints because it costs her nothing. Meanwhile, Dr. Red’s dad is still trying to pay off his one trip to the ER for a ruptured appendix.
Dr. Red’s attending physician is an older black man who has suffered under senseless racism. He knows the pain of being ostracized for being a black man. But he's also watched the cutlure change and feels a deep sense of satisfaction that he is now head of his department. He would never have been given such opportunities in his native Sri Lanka. He disagrees with the mob but must remain silent, knowing if he raised objections, he would be targeted by his own people.
So what is owed any of these men? Is there only one "victim" here? Is it right to elevate one minority group over the others and declare that the rest must pay reparations because of past injustices?
Every people group experiences some form of injustice. One-half of the population is a greater risk of violence than the other half simply because they are female. But calling all males rapists is not the answer. Violence and anarchy will not change a rapist--or a racist. Evil is in the heart, not in a system that has worked overtime to ensure minorities are treated equally.
In the last fifty years, reverse racism has become normative, but since it is re-labeled equality it is praised as just and fair. Mr. Red and Mr. Tan come from heritages with far more racist treatment than Mr. Black's, but they dare not speak their minds because doing so labels them racists. The reverse hatred aimed toward them is now called righteous and a new, unwanted racism begins in each of their hearts.
Three men. Equal lives. Equal chances. No reason to harbor racism until the strategic manipulation of their own society created it, fed it, and rewarded it.
As long as we define racial equality as exalting one while vilifying the other, we’ll never have it.