YouthSpeaksOut! is a monthly public affairs show in Mendocino County, California. High school students discuss relevant topics and allow call-ins in the last third of the show. This month's show was about racism as seen by Millennials. Produced by Dan Roberts. 59 minutes
Today our topic is Racism in a post-racial America. Post-racial America is a theoretical environment where the United States is devoid of racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice. Some Americans believed that the election of Barack Obama as President and wider acceptance of interracial marriage signified that the nation had become post-racial. As we all looked at the swearing of the nation's first African American president into office, the idea was that America was willing to put its ugly past behind, and move towards a post racial society, becoming a more racially tolerant nation. Despite this idea of a post racial society, race and racism continue to be alive and well in America, and the fact that we are not living in a post racial era continues to be a major disappointment in our country. One of the underlying problems is that most Americans, but particularly Millennials, have a very confined view of what racism is. Americans think of racism as Bull Connor or the Ku Klux Klan, but today, racism is far more likely to be embedded in institutions. Modern racism isn t cross- burning (though that still happens.) Silent and not overt segregation exists in our school systems, employment, poverty, healthcare, prison system, immigrant communities, and other sectors of societies. And while the Ferguson Police Department certainly contained racists, the more pervasive problem was the systematic discriminatory method of policing that focuses on people of color. Black Lives Matter is an activist movement in the United States that began in the wake of the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. The Black Lives Matter movement campaigns against what it calls police brutality in the United States against African-Americans. The group received fresh impetus from the 2014 deaths of two unarmed African Americans, teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and 43 year old Eric Garner in New York City; in both cases the grand jury did not indict the officers and no charges were brought. Several unarmed African Americans who died at the hands of law enforcement have had their deaths protested by the movement, including Tamir Rice, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray (whose death sparked the 2015 Baltimore protests). Numerous media organizations have referred to it as "a new civil rights movement." A number of white Americans have responded to the phrase Black Lives Matter by insisting that All Lives Matter. In the last week, Republican candidates have launched attacks on Black Lives Matter. Scott Walker and Ted Cruz have cited the group as evidence of a new anti-police culture " created by President Barack Obama, they say " that has endangered the lives of law enforcement officers. The goal is to cast the phrase Black Lives Matter as an inflammatory or even hateful anti-white expression that has no legitimate place in a civil rights campaign. The Black Lives Matter movement focuses on the fact that black citizens have long been far more likely than whites to die at the hands of the police. They are not asserting that black lives are more precious than white lives. They are underlining an indisputable fact " that the lives of black citizens in this country historically have not mattered, and have been discounted and devalued. There has been much controversy about Confederate flags this year. Many believe that they merely symbolize history and heritage in the South. Others see the flags as provocative symbols of racism. The flags have been removed in some areas following a racist massacre in South Carolina. There is currently much contention about the appropriateness of Confederate symbols in Southern schools. Our communities have less racial diversity than the United States average. Perhaps this makes us less aware of racial conflict in America- as in out of sight, out of mind. Many of us would define ourselves as color-blind. That would be success in striving toward a post-racial America. The question is, Are we there yet? We are going to discuss these ideas for around 30 minutes, then open the phone lines so that you can join the conversation. Our goal is to increase dialogue and awareness between the various age groups in our region. Our phone number will be 707 456-9991. We ll ask for your calls in about 30 minutes. Let s start by going around and describing our experiences of racial diversity in Mendocino County.
*********************************************************** We re going to open the phone lines now. The phone number is 707 456-9991. Everyone is welcome to call, and we d especially like to encourage the youth in the listening audience. Please call in if you have questions or insights about racism in a post-racial America. Was the election of Barack Obama significant of a change in American race relations? Six years after his election, does America seem less racist? How would you define the difference between post-racial and post-racist ? Do you see yourself as color-blind ? Does racism exist in Mendocino County? If so, where do you see it? If you moved here from a different area, how would you compare racial tensions between the regions? What do you think of the Black Lives Matter movement? What do you think of banning Confederate flags? Are Native Americans, Latinos, and African-Americans subject to racism in Mendocino County? If so, where does it happen? If you are a minority race in Mendocino County do you feel that you are targeted by law enforcement? How can we as a community move toward a truly post-racial society?
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