We had a black President. Did he not get into power by using power. Or was it his charm and grace. Obama gave hope to millions. We now have a vice president elect who is of Jamaican and Asian Decent. American is truly a melting pot. I am glad people risk their lives to come here instead of the other way around. Not to dismiss that there is still residue of a Jim crow past.
Furthermore not trying to be long winded Joe Biden victory was more of a wimper than triumph He was fighting for the heart and soul of the nation. Many many Americans are disillusioned. Race is an important component of a person's make up. Only the individual knows how they feel. Sorry for the rambling.

@Orgorg You sir are a man of vision. We could also use them in place of elected officials. They would make better clove puppets for those really in charge.

In that case, places like Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, etc, should be largely free of racism and have thriving communities of color yes?

@AnomalousAnon1 Your point does not follow from the fact that systemic racism exists. The opposite, actually.

@WilyRickWiles That is because the idea of systemic racism is not prevalent in the US if it exists at all outside of any small, hick towns or inner cities.

When was the last time you were in West Africa? (I was there about three years ago and systemic racism remains prevalent there)

The fact is that extreme (and often ignorant) prejudice is exhibited around the globe, systemically in some locations. Live in any of those nations for a while, then come back and tell me how evil the US is.

You want social justice for slavery? Go fight for the forty some odd million slaves living in the world today. I would introduce you to the families of some, but their families were killed, and only those taken as slaves were kept alive, though doubtless, some would likely have preferred death.

You expect me to feel bad about the "racism" and "oppression" of "people of color" who by all standards, enjoy a better quality of life in the US than they do virtually anywhere else in the world? Not going to happen.

You find instances of racism that you can quantify, identify and that we can fight against, and yeah, I will stand next to you and help you to fight it. You want me to ignore reality for some fantasyland delusion? Not going to happen.

@AnomalousAnon1 Is this a fantasyland delusion to you (policing)? [washingtonpost.com]

@AnomalousAnon1 How about this (housing)? [wbez.org]

@AnomalousAnon1 How about this (education)? [news.wttw.com]

@AnomalousAnon1 That's just the last 50 years the created the status quo. I didn't even get into any workplace matters, banking, healthcare, private real estate, city planning of urban slums, etc. And of course people like MLK Jr. talked plenty about the problems before that. We had a consensus to address it, but white people threw a fit and Nixon stopped it in its tracks

@WilyRickWiles Statistically, and based on a per capita equation, white people are still more likely to be shot during an interaction with cops. Fact. (If you want to argue against qualified immunity, and holding cops to a higher account given that they are "endowed" with special rights and privileges in contradistinction to the Constitution, you have my support)

The problems you mention regarding education and housing are just as prevalent in the Appalachian mountains and many rural areas largely populated by white families and has everything to do with poverty and nothing to do with race. (Granted, this is still a problem that needs to be addressed, but not along mere racial lines that disenfranchise an equally large portion of the nation)

If the same democrat party that is so fervently supported by the American Communist Party, the People's Worker Party and other socialist and communist movements, had been in control, how long would it take to do away with the problems for all people? How long for people of color? Detroit has been run by democrats for decades, as have other cities. Given that the democrat party has ruled for decades, should social justice not be thriving in these areas? Should systemic racism not be anything but a memory?

In short, if your solutions are so great and do away with these problems, you should be able to give me an example of where they have been effective, especially if the policies you ostensibly support given your avatar, have been in place literally uninterrupted for decades. .

And curious, why no comment about entire villages being killed in order to enslave the young girls living there if you are so concerned with racism, slavery and social injustice?

@AnomalousAnon1 "Statistically, and based on a per capita equation, white people are still more likely to be shot during an interaction with cops."

No, statistically, there are more white people than Black people, therefore in absolute numbers more white people are shot by cops, but they have a lower probability of being shot by cops, because more Black people per capita are shot by cops.

@AnomalousAnon1 "The problems you mention regarding education and housing are just as prevalent in the Appalachian mountains and many rural areas largely populated by white families and has everything to do with poverty and nothing to do with race."

Yes, there are racial AND class disparities in this country and that is a reason for interracial working class solidarity. Only the elite in both parties benefits from racial division. Take it from the late Fred Hampton.

@AnomalousAnon1 "If the same democrat party that is so fervently supported by the American Communist Party, the People's Worker Party and other socialist and communist movements, had been in control, how long would it take to do away with the problems for all people?"

The Democrats are neoliberal. Privatization, austerity, disinvestment, and hard-line policing don't breed social justice. Socialists oppose them but recognize that they are slightly less bad than Republicans.

@AnomalousAnon1 "In short, if your solutions are so great and do away with these problems, you should be able to give me an example of where they have been effective, especially if the policies you ostensibly support given your avatar, have been in place literally uninterrupted for decades."

My avatar is a bit of a provocation, but what I'm really arguing for is social democracy, which has elements that have worked and continue to work here and across the globe. You presumably just prefer to uphold a false precarity in working and marginalized people's lives in order to boost the profits and social status of large corporations, the elite, and those in their patronage.

@AnomalousAnon1 "And curious, why no comment about entire villages being killed in order to enslave the young girls living there if you are so concerned with racism, slavery and social injustice?"

Why haven't I heard you comment on the case before the Supreme Court that threatens to shield US corporations from liability over complicity in child slavery? Probably because you still don't understand systems--all you see is color.

@WilyRickWiles You presume far too much while knowing very little, if anything about me at all.

Though in the interest of curiosity and hearing you out, please give me an example of where social democracy has worked. Please however, refrain from using the largely Nordic countries as by their own volition they are not socialist, and they also remain largely homogenous, which seems to be a point you are arguing against.

Per capita - Statistically. Yes, it remains true that a white person is more likely on a per capita basis, to be killed than a person of color will. At least according to the figures released by the FBI. Perhaps you have a better source for statistics.

And again we agree on the Establishment Elite and the American Aristocracy fighting to divide the people, and here you are walking right in willingly allowing we the people to be further divided, granting them more room. Why should I limit it to a single cause however, when there are a great many causes that adversely impact all of us as citizens? Is voting for someone "not as bad" ever going to provide viable solutions when they all work for the same monied interests? Change will only happen when we stand together.

May I suggest rather than seeking out the extremes, try working towards the middle, finding common ground, uniting with all people of all classes and all races and all colors, and standing together against quantified acts of oppression that adversely impact us all. You seek out race as your cause du jour or primary choice, rather than focusing instead on oppression that impacts an entire nation. Curious.

@AnomalousAnon1 My WaPo link had a number of studies showing Black people were more likely to be fatally shot by police. I'm guessing the FBI data shows the same--please show your source.

Social democracy means a mixed economy. Much of the developed world has government run healthcare. The US has it for retirees and veterans. The US also has a government-run postal service and a pension-like program in Social Security. It had more such programs in the past.

Even "libertarian" Singapore has a mixed economy, e.g. with highly-subsidized housing.

You're already familiar with the Nordic countries.

I'm sure you're familiar with the historical successes of Russia, China, and Vietnam.

Brazil had great success reducing poverty with its Bolsa Familia program under Lula.

Bolivia was an incredible economic success story under Evo.

Where socialism has failed, it has often been on the receiving end of US sanctions, coups, death squads, and bombings. We're still learning about what happened in places like Indonesia and Latin America.

Moreover, today much of the US and by extension world capitalist economy operates almost like a centrally planned economy but with privatized profits. Multinational billionaires rule rather than government officials, creating incentives at odds with people and places. The model of authoritarian corporate firms is practically mandated for publicly traded businesses. Banks, private equity, and corporations are capitalized by the Fed. Mass media is funded to produce state propaganda. Public research is sponsored and private research is subsidized. Defense companies operate on a contract basis for the federal government. And the system continues its increasing consolidation, platformization, and financialization.

I voted for La Riva by the way, though I did so understanding how our two-party system worked. I still wanted Biden to win, because it was the least bad of two possible outcomes.

I am working to find common ground, but I'm afraid it's not in the interest of capital to compromise with the working class. And I don't think the political center is where you probably think it is.

I speak about race because that is the topic here. Racism is a function of class oppression and not understanding it, unpacking it, and understand history makes it very difficult to find common ground with people who have been racialized and marginalized. The division has already been done and trying to understand what, why, how, for whom, and what solutions are needed should not be taken as further division.

@AnomalousAnon1 I admit that I crossed a line in impugning your beliefs, but that is because I generally assume bad faith around here. Apologies if I was wrong.

@WilyRickWiles

First allow me to address the corporate use of slave labor ... which occurs in countries like Vietnam, China, and other formerly communist nations. Yes, China claims to be communist, though like the others you mentioned in a separate portion of your comment, they only enjoyed those reforms after they began allowing portions of their economic systems to become more capitalist. If we still had the original founding documents, and still followed the structure as established, corporate charters would be withdrawn and the corporations legally shut down when they violated the laws. Apple, Nike and other corporations that scream about how much they promote social justice while at the same time exploiting and slave labor around the world. If you want to stand together and fight these injustices, all we have to do is go back to the original founding structure of the US. Their corporate charters should be pulled, but this is disregarded as an option, despite still being part of the law. Corporate and banking interests have bought and for politicians like so much political commodities openly traded as if they were on the stock market. I see no historical evidence that this practice ends with communism or any other regime. This also has nothing to do with color either, much less me caring one whit about color, class, race, proclivities or any other aspect of the personal lives of others that has no bearing on my life. If someone wants to dress up as a and live their lives like a , I do not care. If they want to force me to call them a or to allow them to urinate on my lawn, I have an issue with that.

Source: fbi.gov

Please show me where any of your suggestions other than the postal are constitutionally allowed? The powers of the federal government are mandated to be few and well defined but have been perverted as they continue to unlawfully usurp more powers. I would have no issues with such programs being implemented at the State or local level, as these would be both constitutional and more directly accountable to the people. Whether you are aware of it or not, the way the nation was established, you would have been perfectly legal to build your communist utopian dream at the local level the way our nation was founded. In fact, it was actually done, with a major communist influx into the US by communal socialist followers of Fourier (Fournier?) The German efforts were a little more successful than the French attempts, the Germans leaving legacies such as New Braunfels, Luckenbach and other communities in Texas. The republican form of government is only mandated at the federal and state level, but again, if any of these programs were implemented locally, I would certainly support them. Coming from a bloated and inefficient federal body exceeding its lawful authority, and using it to oppress the people, not so much.

US actions are not limited to sanctions, but again, this comes from a federal body that has far exceeded its lawful restrictions. Then again, I see this same behavior from other nations as well, most notably at present, the Chinese doing the same thing that America did back in the day with its one-belt, one road policies. (Read confessions of an Economic Hitman for that and I would also recommend the writing of Dr. Alfred W. McCoy) Do you think they will suddenly change their ways? Do you believe any national or federal government will suddenly wake up and become benevolent? Do you think Biden is going to wake up one day and return everything to the way it was built? Federal districts, the th Amendment, US citizens instead of denizens of the independent but united States, perversions of the commerce clause, unlawful usurpation of power, the bankruptcy act of 98, HJR2, these are the same problems in whatever form faced by many nations, not just in the US. These are global concerns faced because of global finance, not because of anything that resembles capitalism any more than it does your version of democratic socialism.

Finding common ground and mutual benefit is the precise purpose of a truly capitalist society, though what we have is not a free market society, not a capitalist society, nor even an oligarchy, but rather a system of corporate and mostly financial interests, seeking to take over the world. Crazy conspiracy talk though, right?

Again, these are not problems unique to the US, though the US people seemed, until recently at least, the best hope the world had. That aside, focusing solely on a single subject is not seeking to find common ground by any stretch of the imagination. I agree about the importance of understanding history and what goes on behind the scenes in government, but do you honestly believe that the proverbial (financial) powers that be will allow any government to suddenly wake up benevolent and focusing on the needs of the people?

Race was the topic of the original post, and as you may have noted, I too am concerned with the history and the future of our reality, and I do believe our conversation has exceeded the somewhat, or comparatively at least, restricted views expressed in the original post.

How well do you know the history? How far up out of the rabbit hole will you dare to venture? By focusing on any singular subject in a complex and systemic issue, you are allowing the chasm to widen, accomplishing nothing in terms of bridging it. Find people of differing views, and see how many have the testicular fortitude to address the systemic nature of the problems, and to determine viable and meaningful solutions. That is the only way anything will ever change for the better. And for the record, I would rather have a meaningful conversation and not apologies. Despite the fact that the majority of the world remains willfully ignorant and apathetic, does not mean everyone does.

*white supremacy. It's dominant because white people are the majority in population, wealth, and power, and they have written and preserved white supemacy (which, to state the obvious, causes harm to tens of millions of people) in the private and public policies and practices of this country since its inception

@WilyRickWiles Why are Asians and Jews more successful than Whites, in majority-White countries, if #WhiteSupremacy is an institution in such countries? Are Asians and Jews simply better at defeating White Supremacist policies? How can we teach disadvantaged groups how to defeat White Supremacy like Asians and Jews do? Or is White Supremacy just a really ineffective policy?

@ZuzecaSape There's a history of different ethnicities becoming white, e.g. the Irish through policing and intermarriage. That has happened with Jewish people, to some extent with Asians (though they certainly don't have much power in this country), and it is starting to happen with Latinos. But only enough will be integrated into the white supremacist project to maintain their hold on power.

"The issues are not the issue. The issue is the Revolution" -Saul Alinsky

Which means BLM, Feminism, White Privilege, LGBT, etc. are not the issue. They are the distraction.

@eschatologyguy

I see them as wepeons not issues.

@CookieMonster that's the bigger way of looking at it.

Ah yes, but we are not instinct only driven animals - we can exceed our biology, our nature and use the matter between the ears to 'evolve' to be better than that...

@Satch >>different often meant a threat

Different oftentimes does mean a threat.