State of Our World: Open_Notes 25

today racism with a new lexicon takes on new forms and shapes - the critical subtext of public policy is racism - the Reagan-1980s white-backlash against racism, almost a second post-reconstruction movement [ie., charges of black racism and reverse discrimination against whites were calculated to give comfort] - playing the race card; labor issues [displaced, reflected hostility vs. the worker, not the oppressor; the same systemic use as with slavery] - maximization of profits by minimizing costs [the strategy of divide and exploit]; "Jim Crow Laws" imposed after the populist upheaval [whites joined with blacks] vs. the corporate power-structure in the south [some white leaders sold out; material incentives, differential wages]; racism is a system of privileges - inter-generational deficits of privilege - the American revolution was a battle for democracy, but for the few; the struggle survives today; THERE WAS/IS NO COMMON TABLE !! -- the use of the police to repress and contain the people is widely apparent with Blacks and Hispanics; the corruption of relationships within society [the legal system; the prison/jail-industrial complex]; the militarization of the police [SWAT] - we are caged, yet are expected not to protest !! - people of color are the wrong complexion to get the protection - prisons are an economic option in hard-hit communities, and the increasing use of prison labor by corporations is gaining acceptance - the counterattack on the few gains of the 1960-70s social-justice movement is growing [ie., demonizing welfare mothers, etc.] !! - public-policy created the crisis; the underlying systemic created the ghetto-gangs, the hatred, and then the systemic comes to police the problems, the results engendered !!

State of Our World: Open_Notes 25