Ring out the Old, Ring in the New

If we could truly ring out the old and ring in the new, as proclaimed in Tennyson’s poem, my wish for the new year would be to let go of the white supremacist views that have for too long held the course in this country, and which could bring on more sorrow if we cannot renounce it.

The first step in renouncing white supremacy is for us to acknowledge it. Even though I have written essays on racial inequality on numerous occasions on this blog, I must acknowledge that today I participate in white privilege just by waking up and getting out of the house each day. I continue to enjoy many perks of white privilege, such as having no fear of being stopped by the police on my way to the shopping mall or on a road trip. I received a good education in the public school system, but inequities still remain there. Even after the civil rights struggle and hard-won gains in the system, our schools and neighborhoods are still, by and large, segregated.

The two videos below illustrate how entrenched white supremacy and white privilege are in our culture. In the first video, political pollster Frank Lutz interviews a focus group of Roy Moore supporters in my home state of Alabama. You will hear one lady make the astounding statement that Alabama did not any racial problems until Obama was elected. That is an astounding statement for me as an Alabama resident, yet there are many across the country who hold similar views of President Obama. (to see the full 7 minute discussion go here)

In the next video, Bill Moyers and four historians dissect the big lie Trump rode to power: the Birther lie. Nell Painter, historian and Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University; Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School; Christopher Lebron, assistant professor of African-American studies and philosophy at Yale University; and Philip Klinkner, James S. Sherman Professor of Government, Hamilton College discuss the fertile ground on which the birther lie was sown: our nation’s history of white supremacy.

One significant quote from the video:

“Donald Trump did us a favor, because he shows us how active and significant white supremacy is in this country. I mean, we needed to know it. We needed to see it. We needed to punch a hole in the mythology of post-racialism, because we need to deal with it. I mean, we think about an oncologist — we don’t want our oncologist telling us a little lie that we don’t really have cancer.”

~ Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School

To read a transcript of the video, go here.

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