Post#1: Current Events, And Why All The Black Kids Are Still Sitting At The Same Table In The Cafteria
One of the first things that surprised me in the prologue to Beverly Tatum's book was when it said that the Chicago Real Estate Board "put in place an ethics code that prohibited brokers from selling to buyers who threatened to disrupt the racial composition of the neighborhood". This morally and ethically bankrupt practice was know as redlining, and it was adopted by many federal and statewide institutions, creating numerous hypersegregated White, Black, and Latinx(a gender-neutral term for Latina/Latino) neighborhoods separated by race. While this practice was ended in 1950, it further cemented the link between race and economic advantage/disadvantage.
However, the main thing that caught my attention was the story of Trayvon Martin's murder. Despite being nearly a decade ago, it was exactly like Ahmaud Arbery's murder: George Zimmerman saw Martin walking, followed him in his car, and fatally shot him. Afterward, police did nothing until the murder had been a national outrage for some time via social media. The murderer's defense team then characterized the victim as a "thug", and as of now, the only difference between the murders is that Zimmerman was acquitted, whereas Arbery's murderers are still awaiting trial(a full year later). After both killings, the Black Lives Matter movement gained traction, with footage of police brutality being commonly shared, and numerous peaceful protests and riots, as well as brutal response to both by police.
So far, I find the book interesting, if somewhat saddening. I think that since the time of the book's original writing, the issues of racial injustice remain, and not much has changed, as unequal and unjust treatment of black people by police remains a massive threat, as does mass incarceration and ingrained socioeconomic disadvantages. However, public awareness of many if not all of these issues has increased, and slow but nonzero progress is being made. I think that with increased awareness and education, great strides can be made against systemic racism and modern segregation, and I am very interested in the book so far.
The connections you make are clear. Does your author feel the same way you do about the amount of awareness and progress?
ReplyDeleteIn the introduction, she talks quite a bit about how technology has been helpful for activism, so I think she'd probably agree on the awareness part. However, I think Tatum considers the actual progress made to be very little/none, as she goes into detail about the recent racial injustices of the Trump era, and ends the introduction with a page or two which state that she wants to be able to say "Yes, it is better" in twenty years, but nothing about it being better now, so I think that she still has hope for the future, but is not satisfied with the present.
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