I have long suspected that so-called “systemic racism” is the charge thrown out against institutions, Capitalism, and even Americanism in the absence of evidence of actual racism.
I’m not saying systemic racism cannot exist. It obviously can. Think the Jim Crow era of legally enforced segregation.
And that gets to the question of what the “systemic” in systemic racism means. In my view, systemic means built into the legal/governing structure. With that in mind, I read with interest a letter citing an instance of a NJ municipal mayor secretly recorded uttering racist comments, and his subordinates actively trying to cover it up.
The 4/11/22 New Jersey Star-Ledger letter, Visit Clark Township, see systemic racism defined, purports, as the heading indicates, that the words and actions of these Clark public officials proves that systemic racism is real. But the letter cites no evidence, real or implied. Where in the township’s governing documents is racism? Instead, John Willard offers:
The recent controversy over Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso’s use of racist language and the effort by Clark officials to sweep those nasty facts under the rug clearly demonstrates what systemic means. The “system” in charge in Clark apparently paid a whistleblower $400,000 to ensure that the mayor’s “racist” comments were not made public. That “system” also put three Clark police officers on administrative leave for their roles in the racist controversy, but has continued to pay them their full salaries for the past 20 months, at a cost so far of at least $763,000.
Yes, the mayor is a racist. And yes, some of his subordinates acted to cover it up. The coverup could have been out of loyalty to the mayor, racism, or fear of losing their jobs—which would indicate an abuse of political power by their boss, the mayor. But a handful of rogue public officials acting badly does not a system make.
True, there could have been a “culture” of racism among some like-minded township officials, in contravention of the spirit of the law. But that doesn’t prove systemic racism. It merely shows some public officials are racist. Indeed, as John Willard acknowledges in his letter, the mayor subsequently apologized publicly, knowing that he had no legal—i.e., systemic—justification whatsoever.
Of course, the Left is trying to systematize racism. It’s being attempted in Oakland, San Diego, and in the Biden Administration’s COVID relief bill, to name a few examples of genuine systemic racism. Or you can check out The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein’s recounting of the liberals/progressives campaign to systematize racism across America. If Willard wants a clear demonstration of systemic racism, he’s looking in the wrong place.
In its rush to condemn Americanism, the reactionary Left continually misidentifies random individual racism as systemic, even as it excuses its own culpability. If any systemic racism—i.e. Jim Crow-like laws—still exists, let them show proof, as I just did. I’ll lead the call to oppose/abolish such laws, as I already do. Until then, I’m not buying into the “America-is-systemically-racist” fraud.
Related:
The Racism of the ‘Anti-Racists’: Oakland Reprises the Confederacy.
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Inspiring Climb to Supreme Court Nominee
Leftist Supremacy, Not White Supremacy, is the Gravest Threat to Black Lives by Andrew Berstein
We Have Overcome: An Immigrant’s Letter to the American People by Jason D. Hill
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