Racism and whites: Letters to the editor, July 1, 2020

Speaking out on what matters

I read an article that made the point that “nice white people can be complicit in a racist society.” I consider myself a nice, white person who lives in a racist society, and I need to ask myself, what am I doing to be complicit?

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I don’t believe I am a racist. I don’t approve of, or think, racist thoughts or behaviors. But is that enough? I believe it is not.

I need to turn my beliefs and my values into action. I need to speak out and be anti-racist. I need to voice my outrage at racism, not just to my friends, but to the community and the world. I need to give more support to organizations that defend the rights of all, and fight racism in our courts, communities and country. I need to make it clear, at every turn, that I want a world that is just, safe, healthy, and economically fair for everyone.

This I pledge to do.

Undoing the ugly system of racism

The notion of race has been the single most significant idea in the history of this nation. Of course, we know now that race is not a genetic reality. The Human Genome Project answered this question in 2003.

While it is not a genetic reality, it remains a powerful social reality because we have spent the last 500 years manufacturing a reality in which a constructed whiteness sits atop a racial hierarchy. With the force of government, religion, criminal justice and academia, we have built institutions designed to reward that whiteness and sustain that hierarchy.

This isn’t the nation we were given, but the nation we built. A nation where a Black person is twice as likely to get the death penalty if they kill a white person than if a white person kills a Black person. A nation where a school district with a majority of students of color can be run by an all white managerial class. We built these systems, so we can unbuild them and rebuild them.

We only need to shift our gaze away from the ugly racist and affix it upon the ugly systems that created him.

Violence’s impact on people of color

Thank you for publishing Andy Levine’s call for everyone to play a role in demolishing racism in this country (Opinion, 6/2). As a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, our mission to end gun violence is one that is intrinsically linked to a crisis that is centuries older — systemic racism.

For generations, black and brown communities have been dying at the hands of all forms of racism and white supremacy, and have been the disproportionate victims of gun violence. Gun violence in California, as in many other states, has a disparate impact on people of color. Violence kills as many Black men and boys, ages 15-24, as nearly every other cause of death combined.

We have partnered with Advance Peace in other cities, a successful evidence-based program, which was unfortunately vetoed by the mayor here in Fresno.

( Editor’s note: The Fresno City Council last week approved funding Advance Peace Fresno in the 2020-21 budget. The mayor can let that stand or veto. Five council votes are needed to overcome a mayoral veto).

Trump should read the Bible sometime

On June 1st, in the midst of a global pandemic and widespread protests from coast to coast, Donald Trump chose to get his picture taken in front of St. John’s Church, brandishing a Bible and his trademark glare. Some high-level members of his administration tagged along, apparently having nothing better to do during this time of national upheaval than to witness an insipid photo op.

It’s tough to know how much time Trump has actually devoted to reflecting on Scripture, however. One prominent commandment admonishes Christians not to bear false witness, and another one frowns upon adultery. Given George Floyd’s murder, it’s instructive that yet another states, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Perhaps Trump should do more than just hold the book in his hands. He could open it up and check out some of its contents. Maybe, while he’s at it, he could have a look at the U.S. Constitution, not to mention the oath of office that he took back in 2017.

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Racism and whites: Letters to the editor, July 1, 2020."