Ending Racism in America
Evangelist Alveda C. King
“Of one blood, God created all people [in His image] to dwell on the face of the earth.” Acts 17:26
“We must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] or perish as fools.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Flawed Attempts to cure racial, class and caste disparities in America continue to divide us. It is time to wake up and unite as the human race, something my Uncle MLK called The Beloved Community
America was founded using several classes of labor. Among these labor pools were forced enslavement of native Africans, attempted enslavement of Native Americans, indentured servants, sharecroppers, and other forms of labor pools. Some of these “classes” evolved from the feudal systems of the world; some from the practice of enslaving people outside of clans and tribes. Throughout its history, America has attempted to cure these practices with various laws and initiatives. Below seeseven categories delineating flawed efforts to cure the age old issues of racism in America:
Abolishing Slavery – Past and Present (Negro slaves, babies in the womb) Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism is a historical movement to end the African and Indian slave trade and set slaves free.
Emancipation Proclamation – The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. In a single stroke, it changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free". It had the practical effect that as soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, by running away or through advances of federal troops, the slave became legally free. Eventually it reached and liberated all of the designated slaves. It was issued as a war measure during the American Civil War, directed to all of the areas in rebellion and all segments of the executive branch of the United States.
American Indian Reservations – In 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant strengthened Indian Reservations to help settle the growing conflict between the Native Americans and the early settlers. There has always been a great deal of conflict and controversy about Indian Reservations and how they came about. The truth is that the Native Americans were here first and Indian Reservations were set up to give them a piece of land, while the settlers set up new rules and laws and took over the land. Some of the new laws had prohibited the Native Americans from hunting and continuing life in the manner they were accustomed to. Besides hunting, many of the early settlers were setting up new plans to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. However, without the ability to hunt and gather food, as they were accustomed to, many of the Native Americans became bitter as they were forced off their lands and told to become farmers. Many of the early Indian Reservations were resistant to farming and some of the Native Americans faced starvation.
Reconstruction Era - The term Reconstruction Era, in the context of the history of the United States, has two senses: the first covers the complete history of the entire country from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War; the second sense focuses on the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877, as directed by Congress, with the reconstruction of state and society.
Women’s Rights – Past Suffragette Movement; present women’s reproductive issues
White privilege (or white skin privilege) is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. (Often dictated, managed and controlled by social security prefixes, zip code designations, etc.)
Redlining - In the United States, redlining is the practice of denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic make ups of those areas.
Artificial Birth Control
Abortion Rights
Black Privilege – Special rights to blacks assigned because of skin color
Affirmative Action - Special rights to black and other minorities assigned because of skin color or ethnicity
Minority Set Asides - Special rights to blacks and other ethnicities assigned because of skin color and ethnicity
Gender Rights
Black Lives Matter
All Lives Matter