Blog Entry #5

What Is Systemic Racism? 17 reasons why it’s the worst form of bullying.

By Antoine G Larosiliere

What Is Systemic Racism? Have you ever been denied a home loan when there is nothing wrong with your credit? Have you ever been misdiagnosed or refused medical care because of the color of your skin? Have you ever been told you can’t play a particular sports position because “your kind” isn’t intelligent enough? Have you ever been denied the opportunities to get the best education when your grades are tops? Have you ever tried to play a game and then someone changed the rules to handicap only you every time? Have you ever tried to exercise a basic human right, but it was denied because you were viewed less than human? If you haven’t, it’s probably because you’re white and more than likely live in America. America has a fundamental flaw that causes this to happen, and it’s systemic racism.

What is systemic racism? Systemic racism is a form of institutional bullying. It involves policies and practices that exist throughout our societies or institutions, that results in constant unfair advantages to some and unfair or harmful advantages of others based on race. It is meant to forever handicap or oppress a particular race of people, and maintain the current power structure of the society.

Systemic racism is a fundamental flaw?

Bullies for the most part are victims of neglect or abuse. The British used to bully its American colonies and many of the founding fathers of this country were students of English ideology and philosophy. Therefore, America’s greatest fundamental flaw is doing what most bullies do; model their parents’ behavior. At the core of bullying is an imbalance of power; the need to control how someone else feels and behaves. Systematic racism at the hands of American government has been used in doing just that for hundreds of years— instituting policies and agendas that are meant to subjugate and control how blacks in this country think, feel and interact.

Is Systemic racism real? Yes, and it is the worst form of bullying.

These policies and agendas have come in the form of systemic racism. Systemic racism is racism that is instituted on a national scale and often global. It affects every aspect of society from political, social, socioeconomic, healthcare, entertainment and education to name a few. Is Systemic racism real? Yes, and it is the worst form of bullying. Systemic racism has led to millions of black deaths in this country, more than any disease, event, or phenomenon. There have been many systemic acts of racism that have shaped America in being acknowledged as one of the most racially charged countries in the western hemisphere, and here are the Top 17.

#1 Bullied by the Commissioner of Patents

Black slaves were responsible for great early inventions, but in 1857, “the U.S. commissioner of patents officially ruled that slave inventions couldn’t be patented.” This allowed many slave owners to bully and take credit for their slaves’ inventions.

#2 Bullied by Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests

In 1870, the 15^th amendment gave us voting rights. Thousands registered, voted and even ran for office. Afraid to lose the white power structure, poll taxes and literacy tests were created to bully and disenfranchise black voters.

#3 Bullied into Becoming Sharecroppers

During Reconstruction, blacks who lived in the south became sharecroppers— bullied into doing the same thing they did as slaves, living in slave cabins, working for low wages and gaining unfair debt. When they finally complained about their unfair pay, 200 blacks were bullied and slaughtered during the Elaine Massacreof 1919.

#4 Bullied in the Military

Blacks were allowed to join the military and fight for democracy, but were denied access to that very same democracy. Blacks were bullied in the military facing racism and discrimination from white officers and soldiers. After blacks returned home, to keep them in “their place” the rise of the KKK led to the “red summer.”

Lawmakers eventually found more creative ways to bully and discriminate.

#5 Bullied by Race-Based Zoning

In 1910, there were formal prohibitions on African Americans purchasing property on majority-white blocks that led to blacks being bullied by race-based zoning, but the Supreme Court ended that in 1917. Lawmakers eventually found more creative ways to bully and discriminate.

#6 Exclusionary Zoning Bullied Black People

This was one of those creative practices; it prevented the construction of apartment buildings and multifamily units in certain neighborhoods, ensuring that only those who could afford single-family homes could live there.This exclusionary zoning bullied black people and kept them out of white communities, because only white people could afford single-family homes. Neighborhoods with apartment buildings and multi-family units, which is where predominantly low-income Blacks lived, were bullied by purposely being zoned for industrial and commercial use.

#7 Policymakers Used Eminent Domain to Bully

According to Merriam Webster’s definition, eminent domain is right of a government to take private property for public use by virtue of the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its jurisdiction. At the beginning of the 1850s, New York City policymakers used eminent domain to bully and eradicate a thriving Black community in Manhattan, displacing thousands of residents in order to create Central Park.Other examples include San Francisco’s “Harlem of the West,” the black neighborhoods in Kansas City and so many others.

#8 Bullied by Gentrification

Merriam-Webster defines gentrification as “the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area … accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people,” making everything more expensive, so some people can no longer afford to live there. Gentrification is another way they systematically bullied and removed black and brown people from their own communities to live in poorer, more congested, and polluted neighborhoods.

#9 Bullied by Social Security

In the 1930’s the establishment of Social Security initially bullied and excluded domestic and agricultural workers, leaving behind two-thirds of black Americans.

This “redlining” was an act of bullying and systematic racism.

#10 “Redlining” Was an Act of Bullying

In 1933 and 1934, during the Great Depression, President FDR signed the Home Owners’ Loan Act and the National Housing Act into law to prevent foreclosures and make rental housing and homeownership more affordable. Then the Federal Housing Administration “used maps that assessed risk based on a neighborhood’s racial composition to determine the areas in which it would guarantee mortgages,” thus labeling non-white neighborhoods as hazardous, and coloring these areas red. Is systemic racism real? This “redlining” was an act of bullying and systematic racism. These discriminatory bullying policies have our neighborhoods riddled with pollution and minimal options for nutritious food.

#11 Local Banks Used the G.I. Bill to Bully

In 1944, President Roosevelt signed into law the G.I. Bill so WW2 Veterans could get guaranteed mortgages,but then turned it over to the states, which allowed local banks to use the G.I. Bill to bully and discriminate against black veterans and deny them the home loans. The bill helped white Americans accumulate wealth and widened the wealth gap between blacks even further…

#12 Bullied by Blockbusters

“Blockbusting refers to the practice of introducing African-American homeowners into previously all-white neighborhoods in order to spark rapid white flight and housing price decline.” Prior to the FHA, real estate professionals preyed on white homeowner’s fears, told them that Black families were moving in nearby and bullied them into selling their homes at a discount— then went to black families who had limited access to FHA loans and the G.I. Bill, and bullied them into buying those homes at marked-up prices and interest rates.

#13 Contract Buying Allowed the Black Families to Get Bullied

When you purchase a house on contract, the homeowner retains the title to property while you continue to make agreed-upon monthly payments. The title will not be transferred to your name until you have paid it off in full.

“These homes were often purchased on contracts, instead of traditional mortgages. Contract buying allowed the Black families to get bullied and evicted if they missed one payment and then repeat the process with other Black families.”

#14 Bullied into Sub-Prime Loans

“Subprime loans” had higher-than-average interest rates that could cost homeowners up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional interest payments. As recently as 2006, “banks disproportionately bullied Black and Latino homebuyers into these sub-prime loans, even when they qualified for less risky options.” During the financial crisis, black families lost 48% of their wealth.

#15 Bullied by the Education System

During slavery, educating slaves was forbidden and ignorance laws were passed to bully the slaves and keep it that way.

-After the Civil War, schools were separated with black schools being significantly poorer quality than schools for whites. “The idea was that black children didn’t need anything more than basic skills.”

Brown vs. Board of Education

The landmark case desegregated schools and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it official. But that led to an opportunity for them to close down black schools and fire black teachers. And even though schools were desegregated, black students were bullied, isolated and faced discrimination routinely.

-In 1970, they began to remove the industrial trade programs out of the inner city high schools at the end of the black power movement to make sure independent black laborers couldn’t finance the Black Power Movement.

#16 Bullied by the C.I.A.

–In 1980, the CIA placed drugs in black neighborhoods for us to sell. The money made provided gangs the resource to buy automatic weapons. Factory jobs were also shipped out of the inner city, setting up what they hoped would be the further degradation of black communities.

#17 The Crime Bill Bullied Poor Black Americans

In 1994, the Bill Clinton Crime Bill bullied poor black Americans to serve severe prison sentences for decades for selling or consuming the CIA’s crack-cocaine, while white people got a slap on the wrist for doing the same thing with another type of cocaine.

But that’s not all…there’s systematic racism in our healthcare system, in sports and entertainment, in motion pictures, in the workplace and every other industry you can think of.

Is Systemic racism real? A better questions is, when will it finally end?

That’s not a question anyone can answer, but what can we do about it? There are activist and policymakers working on a multitude of policies and initiatives that will hope to dismember practices of systemic racism in our government and in our judicial system. There are many people in place that are part of the problem and are uncooperative to change; so we need to galvanize and overwhelm the voting booths to put people of equitable principles in place to change and implement policies that are more humane. These abusive systems are created, cultivated and reinvigorated by people who come from and were taught abusive patterns of behavior. We need to reform our police systems and every position of leadership in every industry to uncover and heal manifestations of abuse or neglect. We need to heal our country and this imperfect world we live in with honesty, empathy, accountability and love.

Many strategies, including the one I just mentioned, can also be found in the novel, The Bully Experience: Daniel’s Story . Also, please subscribe to the YouTube channel for more insight to these topics.