Racism: As American as Apple Pie

Former President Bill Clinton perhaps summed it up, best, when several years ago he called racism, “our most intractable problem,” a statement which came to mind after two recent disturbing racial incidents: the light sentence - 7 years - that Chicago policeman, Jason Van Dyke received after shooting 17-year-old  African American teenager, Laquan McDonald, 16 times, saying that he was in fear for his life, when the teen, who was breaking into cars, was actually walking away; and then just preceding that, a Chicago judge found no evidence of a cover up, by police on that scene, in their written reports, despite others that refuted it.

On the heels of these events, a group of Catholic High school boys, from Covington, KY, wearing “Make America Great” hats, who took part of the annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, DC, on the National Mall, were taunted by a fringe religious group, called the Black Israelites who taunted the boys, with racial epithets, and other vulgarities.

An American Indian group, also present on the Mall, part of the Indigenous Peoples March, had its drummer, Nathan Phillips, attempt, on his own effort, a peaceful diversion for what he felt what was potentially an explosive confrontation, between the two groups, beat his drum, rhythmically, chanting Native American hymns..

The unintended consequences was that the boys were indeed diverted, but also appeared to taunt the man, and,later one teen, junior Nick Sandmann, stood inches away from Phillips’ face, with a smirk, that seemed menacing to many observers of the video.

The video, which rapidly went viral, enraged most who had seen it, for various reasons, and a subsequent televised NBC interview, was called a PR setup, (there was some truth in that) and adding fuel to the fire was Sandmann’s saying in a soft drawl, ‘I had a right to stand there.”

Many have believed that Sandmann was blocking Phillips path, while others say that there was potential for a physical assault to the latter.

While many bemoaned the absence of chaperones, the mixture of privileged white teens, Native Americans, and African Americans, no matter the type of behavior, egregious or not,  was an admixture for a violent confrontation, for three groups that have faced off over the course of centuries, in what is now a divided America.

The racially exploitative statements by Donald Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016, especially the charge that Mexican immigrants were rapists and terrorists, added further burnishing to earlier assertions, about President Obama’s birthplace - not the US -  this disqualifying him from the presidency

This all  quickly brought a rush of nativism, and intolerance that quickly escalated to a peak of racial bigotry with the tipping point in the 2017 demonstrations in Charlottesville, by a band of white supremacists all wearing versions, of what is now known as the MAGA hat, and his trademark casual attire of khaki pants and a white golf shirt.

While some have denied the smirk, including Sandmann, others are seething at the level of disrespect and potential for violence, after the historic standoff between Christians and Native Americans, and in particular, some forced conversions by Roman Catholics, that included dragging some Indians to attend Mass, and forced to make the Sign of the Cross.

 “The Catholic Church was one of many Christian denominations that ran boarding schools in Canada and the U.S. designed to “kill the Indian in the child” by taking kids from their families, cutting them off from their culture and educating them in the ways of the European-minded settlers.”

While Pope Francis apologized to the American Indians for all that they suffered he also canonized Brother Juniper Serra, who had a history of physically abusing Indians; and he also, when given the chance, on a visit to Canada, did not apologize for the residential schools.

“Fifty different tribes in California condemned the sainthood conferred on Serra, said Deborah Miranda, a literature professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and a member of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation of California. She wrote "Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir," a book about her ancestors' experiences in the Spanish missions.

"My objection and the objection of many California Indians is that he is being honored for in fact dishonoring many of our California ancestors. The missions ended up killing about 90% of the California Indians present at the time of missionization, creating all kinds of cultural and emotional baggage that we still carry to this day," Miranda said. "It's not a question of attacking the Catholic Church or attacking Pope Francis. It's about making sure that the truth is heard and that injustices are not continued on into the 21st century."

While the Black Israelites, are a fringe groups with a troubled history as described by The Washington Post, “They are members of The House of Israel, which draws from what scholars call Black Israelism, a complex American religious movement that can be dated to the 18th century, at least. Beliefs vary widely, but groups are bound together by the central tenet that African Americans are the literal descendants of the Israelites of the Bible and have been severed from their true heritage.”

The Post also stated, while they “are not heroes in this story, their beliefs can be seen, on one level, as people grasping for historical dignity.”

In a country that once enslaved Africans and their descendants and fought a civil war, based on their continued state, the United States, has seen through the ages, a legacy of bigotry and segregation, and seeing the “slap on the hand” for Van Dyke’s unwarranted actions, makes for continued anger by the city’s black residents.

It’s been well established that Chicago is one of the nation’s most segregated cities, a legacy of what has been a century of racially motivated behaviors that have disenfranchised, and divided, the city, lessening, and in some cases, thwarting economic development, as well as access to education, public resources and employment.

With the Trump presidency and his remarks about racial minorities, the unseen threat of terrorists, and gangs from the Southern border, the disparagement of Hondurans fleeing from violence, in their towns, and others, has angered many, it has also pleased those to whom his message of intolerance is seen as saving the country, and that includes Catholic pro-life advocates such as Fr. Frank Pavone, who is also a Trump supporter.

The Post also noted, that “The Friday incident happened less than a week after Trump made light of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre of several hundred Lakota Indians by the U.S. cavalry in a tweet that was meant to mock Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whom Trump derisively calls “Pocahontas.”

Of particular note: “A huge swath of March for Life attendees are Catholic students, from Catholic high schools that bus them into Washington for the event, and from Catholic colleges and universities. Some Catholic high schools in the region require students to attend. Attending the march can have the feel of being at a youth sporting event or field trip, with young people wearing matching clothes laughing and visiting with friends. The image of tens of thousands of young people marching and cheering for the antiabortion cause is one of the movement’s annual highlights.”

Some in the national media have called for a national dialogue, or to use the incidents on the Mall, as a “teachable moment”, but in the swirling maelstrom of hate, distrust, betrayal, and religious fervor, this is unlikely, and any efforts to establish a dialogue will be labelled as “fake news” by the radical right.

Clinton was correct, racism is indeed the nation’s most intractable problem, and the hopes, and the dreams for a New Jerusalem, where in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls,” is just that - a dream.