Race in America

In light of the Martin/Zimmerman case just recently concluded, I did some research on the issue of race justice in this country.  I have in the past read a number of reports on this issue and for a time in the 1980's taught a US history class with a mini-topic of "Black History", so I always felt I had some knowledge of this issue.

However, my research turned up continuing issues of racial injustice in the legal system in this country.  The readers of this blog should not take my word for the problem but instead "google" the two items I recently came across.

First is the book entitled Slavery by Another Name by Douglass A. Blackmon.  The sub-title here is "the re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II".  That speaks for itself.

Second was a film entitled American Violet about a situation in Texas in 2000 where the district attorney and police were arresting black residents on the uncorroborated word on one person, then giving those arrested the choice of taking a plea bargain for a crime they did not committed and go free, or risk a trial where they could have been jailed for years.

Years ago, when talking about the improvement in racial justice in this country, to a class, an African American student told me "You don't know what you are talking about".  I guess she was right.

Update:  Re-thinking this last sentence it would be more accurate to say that the discussion in class that day involved my argument that the Federal government was doing more to protect the rights of African Americans than the state governments were.  To that is what she replied to.