this is not new: the history of white supremacy & the ongoing effects of its implementation

Washington D.C. has been commonly referred to as ‘Chocolate City’ since the early 1970’s, due to it’s high population of black residents. Black culture has historically shaped the fabric of Washington D.C. The city has birthed its own music known as go-go, and is home to famous food joints such as Ben’s Chili Bowl, which was founded by a Trinidadian named Ben Ali, who studied at the cities historically black college known as Howard University. Ben’s Chili Bowl is located on U street in D.C., which was formally known as black Hollywood. Making note of the use of formally because if you venture out on the Yellow Line Metro Station towards the U Street Metro Station, you will not be a witness to Chocolate City any longer. This is because gentrification has taken D.C. by storm, as it has many other cities such as Brooklyn, Atlanta and Portland which were deemed home by blacks and other minorities of color. Gentrification is just one result of the systematic oppression of minorities of color in America, which is created by the culture of white supremacy and is dished out heavily through capitalism. The minority population of these gentrified cities find themselves questioning what they can do to take back ownership of their respective cities. But the only way that minorities of color can end this helplessness which leaves them powerless is to put an end to the systematic oppression which cripples their very livelihood. 

African slaves were first brought to the soil of North America in 1619, to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia to produce free labor for the ascending tobacco industry. This system of slavery gradually grew from indentured servitude, a type of tenure which an individual paid for their entrance into the new world by free labor, into chattel slavery, which is the dehumanization of an individual, defining them legally and socially as a piece of property instead of a person. This ownership of enslaved Africans revoked them of fundamental rights under English law, allowing them to be severely beaten, raped, experimented upon and even killed without consequence. Enslaved Africans were also socially undermined, in words of the 3^rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, whites believed that “blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind.” However, the same white Americans anecdotally believed that enslaved African were able to exert some sort of ‘superhuman’ physical strength, due to being able to work in distressed conditions for an extended period of time, despite given no choice but to work strenuously. This dissonance between whites and the humanity of enslaved Africans were of course, even more horrific when applied to black women. According to judge E.G. Henry, a local judge residing in Mississippi, “the regulations of law, as to the white race, on the subject of sexual intercourse, cannot and do not, apply to slaves for obvious reasons: their intercourse is promiscuous,” this means, in accordance of the law African women cannot be raped because by nature, they are promiscuous. This cognitive dissonance created by whites allowed them to feel no empathy for blacks due to them “not being human.” In result, the dehumanization of black people prevails, allowing the death and oppression of black people to continue without resentment from whites because they are believed to be justified in their actions.

    Even after the abolishment of slavery on June 19^th, 1865, black Americans were, and still are discriminated against in terms of legislation. Jim Crow laws were race based laws, which were implemented after the abolishment of slavery to segregate the races, making schools, public places of recreation and work places separate between the races. This means that for almost 80 years until the end of the civil rights movement, blacks and whites could not openly be within the same space unless it was to service white Americans. Jim Crow laws had a long lasting negative economic impact it had on the black community. The main difference between white and black communities during this time is that whites were afforded opportunities which blacks and other minorities were not afforded due to their economic power. White citizens were afforded privileges which included highly funded schooling and decent housing. Between the years of 1915-1916, southern states spent $72M on education, of that $72M only 11% went to black students. Black Americans being dependent on the mercy of white America to provide for them is a reoccurring theme of the bitter relationship between blacks and their government.

    White supremacy is commonly defined as “the belief that whites are superior to all other races.” This belief isn’t so much a belief in America, it’s a notion which is plastered in the subconscious of all of us who live within America by a society which teaches us directly and indirectly, that anyone who is not white or close to whiteness is inferior. Whiteness is a blank state in America, those who identify closest to whiteness are seen as nothing, not nothing as in there are invisible, but whiteness is viewed as the norm. Whiteness comes with the privilege of being viewed as a individual, and being without preconceived notions which are detrimental to the individuals livelihood. Whiteness is the base of the framework of white supremacy because anything which is close to whiteness is afforded this privilege, and this privilege is what creates white supremacy. White supremacy hurts whoever is not afforded the privilege of whiteness because they are seen as abnormal, which dehumanizes them within the subconscious of those who are afforded this privilege and of the oppressed themselves.

    Capitalism is the second biggest perpetrator of white supremacy because it is the engine that drives the wheels of supremacy. Capitalism is an economic system that works under privatized ownership of companies which sell a product or service for profit, meaning simply a free for all economic system in which the “strongest” rise to the top and the “weakest” fall to the bottom. But for black Americans, capitalism works against them. Since economic power has never been in the favor of black Americans, they find difficulty in finding mobility within capitalism, which rewards those who already have. The poor gets poorer under capitalism, and historically, black Americans have always been the poorest demographic. Since economic power is already in the hands of white Americans, they will continue to hold that power until wealth is distributed equally. For wealth to be distributed equally, there must be equal opportunity in regards of education and employment, which there is not within a white supremacist nation.

      As a result of white supremacy, Black Americans are subjected to low quality education, impoverished neighborhoods, and unequal job opportunities which results in an overall lower quality of life for the demographic. Economic disparities between people of color and white Americans are highlighted in bold by the unemployment rate and the racialized and gendered wage gaps. 10.4% of Black Americans are currently unemployed, while the same is true for only 4.7% of whites. This statistic means that Black Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed as whites, even in an economy which is seeing national resurgence. Economic power is an important factor in the war against white supremacy since economic power is usually paralleled to social advancement. Black Americans see little ability of economic mobility which creates a stagnant playing field in which black Americans are unable to progress.

          Since blacks are not within range of prevalent economic opportunity, crime in the form of drug distribution is often turned to as a measure of accumulating wealth. Drugs have been prevalent in black communities since the crack epidemic in the 1980s, due to widespread poverty. Even though blacks use drugs at the same rate as whites and only account for 13% of drug users, they make up 70% of drug related incarcerations and 33% of America’s prisoners.  Black males are the main victims of Mass Incarceration, which is the name given to the epidemic of imprisonment in America, which imprisons more people per capita than any other country on Earth. Mass Incarceration is defined as the extreme and historic rates of incarceration in America, which imprisons the highest amount of people per capita, most of which are black males. Since 1970, a staggering one in four black men in America have spent time in a prison in America. Mass Incarceration is a direct result of the War on Drugs, which targets young men of color, namely Black men, with strict, unfair and unequal punishment for drug crimes by enactment state and federal legislation. Prison sentences for black males on average are 20% longer than white males for similar crimes committed. Interestingly, corporate industries also benefit off mass incarceration from free prison labor in which inmates are made to pay for the cost of their incarceration by working for little to no money for businesses such as Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret & AT&T.

          The sum of these results of the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy creates a culture in which modern day slavery is very still much alive. Black Americans and other minorities of color are just as oppressed as they always have been, except in the modern age this oppression is put under wraps. Gentrification plagues the black community, it tells black Americans that nothing is theirs, and at a whim, everything they own can be taken away from them, because they do not actually own anything. White supremacy cripples black Americans because it tells all black Americans that you are lesser and that you are powerless. White supremacy tells all those who are not close to whiteness that you are at fault, and that you do not control the life you live. Black Americans and other minority people of color are crippled by white supremacy, but not defeated. There are solutions to ending white supremacy on a wide scale, which starts with people of color putting power within their own hands, and not asking a country which doesn’t care about them to do it for them.

            Group economics is the main solution to gaining power for black Americans. Business in America is the cornerstone for every community, each community is only as powerful as their economic power allows them to be. Within black communities, that power is limited because most of the businesses are owned by owners which are not from the community in which they are located. To create economic power within black communities, black people within those communities must support each other economically by buying black owned and buying from small businesses within their communities. Accumulating this economic power will also translate to political power for blacks, by having a hand on the money, black Americans will also have a say on legislation enacted within their own communities.

          Reforming the education of black children is the second step in the decolonization of the black American. Black students should be subject to an education which is inclusive and gives them representation in the material they are learning. Too often, black students are subject to white washed courses which they do not see themselves in, causing a lack of interest in school. Black Americans can go about redefining black academics by creating charter schools within communities in which all the neighborhood children attend. This charter school system would have to be established by a national board of directors to plan out funding and curriculum throughout all of it’s schools. Black parents can also take initiative in educating their children themselves, by being pro-active in their child’s education through library trips and hands on learning activities.

          Politically, black Americans can create their own political party independent of major political parties to vote for. Black Americans can also be adamant in utilizing their political power by voting in every election, national, county or state-wide. In the 2012, an estimated 66% of black Americans voted in the national presidential election, that trend must continue in the future for blacks to realize their absolute political power, especially since blacks only make up 14% of the population of the United States. Political and economic resistance combined with decolonizing the mind of the black Americans and other people of color are the most practical solutions to ending the culture of white supremacy in America.

       Racism is as prevalent in American culture as it was 60 years ago, the difference is that now it is housed within legislation instead of being perpetrated through daily conversations. However, racism doesn't have to remain prevalent in our current society. Representation in publicized spaces, reform within educations, including zoning of schools, and grassroots social work are all pivotal to the battle against the systematic oppression of black Americans. To break down a system which is enacted upon the oppressed, the oppressed must rely on each other, not the oppressor to break the chains of oppression.