WashPo: Warren just gave the speech that Black Lives Matter activists have been waiting for

[Baitball Blogger]

159. What she said was, that it wasn't "sufficient."

So, in other words, the neo-Liberal economic plans of the past fell short of changing the social factors that were causing racial injustice. And I think we all know why. Building schools and improving infra-structure in impoverished communities did not change racist attitudes in the white flight zones.

The reason why systemic racism is prevalent is because our policies and the attitudes of the agencies in this country, (like the people working in our criminal justice departments) reflect the desire of the status quo. The status quo in this country is primarily composed of white individuals. This is to say, that our system is replete with prejudice against minorities. I think we can all agree up to this point. But from here on is where we may have difficulty agreeing on the big picture.

As I see it, when people talk about racial justice, I assume they mean passing massive civil rights laws that can go beyond the reach of previous laws; as well as taking on the criminal justice system directly. Specifically, changes in the attitudes and policies in the police force are immediately needed. That is a great objective for the BLM movement because they have everyone's support and I think it is achievable.

However, how do you counter the negative effects that we encounter in daily life that come from private citizens and businesses? That's going to be more difficult. There is a whole set of racist affronts that involve Civil Torts. In other words, no government agency will come to our rescue. We are on our own and the only option is through the courts. In order to exercise our rights, we need money for good lawyers, because there aren't very many high principled lawyers willing to work pro bono these day. Thus, economic equality opens that door for us.

But, probably the biggest advantages that economic equality will offer is provide an opportunity to change the demographics of the status quo. We need to raise the income and education for minorities and hope for the best that the initial wave of individuals who make it into the circles of power aren't going to get seduced and absorbed by the system. I realize that there are difficulties here, since altruism isn't a big seller these days.

But, expecting racial justice to be its own self-propelling vehicle of change, I just don't see it. Mainly because there is no incentive for white America to change without pressure from outside and from within.