institutional racism is alive and well in 2017 america

“For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2.11).

I am often asked why I harp on past racial injustices practiced in the U.S. “Those are all in the past. Get over it.”

My answer is two-fold.

“First, we need to be aware of the role that institutional racism and oppression of African Americans played in the founding and progress of our country. It is highly unlikely that America would have become the economic powerhouse that it became without the free labor provided by African slaves. During America’s development, cotton was king, not just in the U.S. but globally. We could compete on the world’s cotton markets, supplying American and British mills with cheap cotton because it cost nothing to pick the cotton. Just saying. Things would have been much different if cotton growers had had to pay a wage to cotton pickers. The economic benefits we all enjoy today are built largely on a bedrock of slavery.”

“Secondly, institutional racism is not only part of our past, it is, shamefully, part of our present. One is never sure whether those who maintain there is no or little institutional racism today are simply honestly ignorance or willfully so. Either way, it is ignorance. For, racism in America is alive and well. We are not a “colorblind” society. And all too often African Americans still do not have unfettered access to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

It often starts from the cradle and does not end until the grave—sometimes it puts individuals in the grave. Just yesterday the largely black Columbus Ohio school district sent students home early. They announced that they will do so again today and perhaps tomorrow—this because the unusually hot September temperatures have raised temperatures in many class rooms to dangerous levels. And why are so many classrooms so hot, you ask? You guessed it. No air conditioning.

I’ll tell you one thing for sure. There are no such shenanigans going on in our nearly all white school district. Plenty of money here to air condition our palatial schools. Rather, I noted yesterday when I picked up my grandchildren from elementary school that there were several youngsters wearing something with long sleeves to keep warm in the irresponsibly frigid airconditioned temperatures of their school.

The state of Ohio, through their unequal and immoral school funding practices, engages in blatant and institutional racism. In addition, Ohio, like so many states, give a nod and wink to individual racism by allowing white people to create segregated schools via charter school funding. Again, this is simply racism. It is immoral and ought to be unconstitutional.

As an aside, this talk of school reminds us that yesterday was the anniversary of the courageous “Little-rock nine.” Do we find monuments built by predominantly white local governments dotting the southern landscape to commemorate their patriotic feat, I wonder? Surely we all know that what those nine students endured took more courage, nerve and verve than nine Stonewall Jacksons. And the nine did it for a just cause, unlike the treasonous rebel.

Anyway, the racial disadvantages continue as one ages. We think now, for example, of “Whataburger’s” alleged hiring practices in Florida.” According to a recent lawsuit, a store manager


“who is white, was pressured by the restaurant’s general manager to hire white employees but not black ones. Among other things, the general manager, Johanna Risk, directed her to review applications and only interview applicants who had white-sounding names.

“Ms. Burrous opposed and refused to participate in the racially discriminatory hiring directive to hire white — not black — applicants…. Instead, Ms. Burrous continued to hire the most qualified applicants for vacant positions, regardless of race or color..

[The general manager] “told Ms. Burrous that Whataburger’s ‘customer base is white and we want the faces behind the counter to match the customer base,’ the lawsuit says.”[1]


This is not a unique case. It happens every day. As another author has reminded us,


“Employers see names like LeKeisha or Lisa and make substantive decisions based on implicitly held assumptions about the names themselves, even though the résumés are exactly the same.”[2]


We are not even talking about establishing preferential hiring practices for African Americans now. Just simple fairness. But nope, we are not even getting that.

And we won’t talk, here, about the shamefully large number of African Americans, male and female, who die at the hands of America’s police forces nearly every day.
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Yes, there are simply too many ignorant of our past and blind to our present. Whether this ignorance and blindness is willful or not, it will engender a constricted future, not only for African Americas, but for all Americans. And, as Martin Luther King reminded us, the social inequality will produce spiritual death.


[1] Jeff Burlew, “Lawsuit: Whataburger ex-manager said she was told to hire white employees,” USA Today

[2] Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, chapter 3

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, ‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons’” (Acts 10.34)