The United States is a Racist Nation: Let’s Begin by Acknowledging That

Guest blogger: Joshua Wagner, law graduate, University of San Francisco:

The United States is a racist nation. From 1619, over 100 years before the United States would become a country, racial slavery existed in the Colonies. The United States exploited racial slavery to obtain its ‘Manifest Destiny,’ a country spanning from sea to shining sea. Slaves were considered lesser and according to delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention counted as only three-fifths of a person. They were also disallowed from being educated or learning to read. When slavery finally did end, it did so only due to military necessity during the civil war. During the same time other atrocities were carried out against Native Americans, Chinese labor was heavily exploited in the west, and racist legislation was also passed against Chinese individuals allowing them to be excluded from the country via the Chinese exclusion act.

            Even after the end of slavery, African Americans were denied their civil rights; subjected to worse paying, more dangerous, and dirtier jobs; and forced to sit at the back of buses. Lynchings were also common. African Americans and other people of color were excluded from certain areas through segregation and unofficial ‘Sundown Towns.’ Blatant racism was acceptable for many years and ‘full civil rights’ for African American’s did not come until the 1960’s. Even then, leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. were targeted for surveillance by the United States government, and King was eventually assassinated.

            We have now entered a period of U.S. history marked by ‘color blindness.’ The law now prohibits legislation based on race, even in some instances where such legislation would alleviate past racism. People now claim to ‘not see race’ as if that fixes hundreds of years of slavery, segregation, and discrimination. Even while racist laws are ‘prohibited,’ laws are frequently passed which disadvantage racial minority communities and such laws are declared constitutional because they are shrouded in ‘colorblind’ language. The standard for proving a law passed is based on race is extremely high and difficult to prove, leaving many racist laws unchecked and often upheld in the courts.

            Yet we continue to pull the wool over our own eyes and accept any justification for a law with a discriminatory impact and refuse to break down the institutions that maintain systems of oppression that span back to the beginning of the country. In immigration law, Latinos and other people of color are targeted by racist legislation and we allow it as long as there is a reason given that is somewhat acceptable while ignoring the clear intent of the legislature and executive. Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’ is just one example. Originally targeting Muslim majority nations exclusively, it came under fire but was eventually upheld after Trump threw in a few extra countries (North Korea and Venezuela) to make the law ‘colorblind.’ During the coronavirus outbreak, Trump has constantly referred to Covid-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’ or the ‘Wuhan Virus,’ perpetuating dangerous racist notions. He has also excluded immigrants via executive order under the guise of saving American jobs despite the fact that more Americans than ever are out of work and many businesses are still shut down.

            If the United States is ever going to truly embrace equality, we need to break down the institutions that uphold racism and oppression. The first step is that we stop pulling the wool over our eyes, finally acknowledge that the United States is a racist nation, and stop upholding racist legislation by pretending it is colorblind. If we continue on this path of doublespeak we will soon find ourselves in a country ruled by blatant racism once again, if we have not reached that point already.

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