I’m having a tough time accepting the assertion that racism in America is on the decline–if not gone altogether. I get the surface argument: We elected a black president. True, but in the electing we neglected the reality of his mixed heritage. We call him black as a label. We call him muslim as a stereotype and offer repugnant humor as a reflection of the stereotypes he (mostly) refuses to meet (i mean the dude does play basketball). We can’t get past the long history of American racism with one election. We also can’t do it in under 100 years of equal rights.
The problem is that a lot of people in charge (either financially or politically) represent an era where racism thrived. We haven’t shed ourselves of the old guard–the people who grew up with this mentality or come from parents of this mentality and have not found the will to change. This takes time, but it won’t do us any good to have the time if we continue to cater to that mindset. The old guard is being represented in the electorate. Consider the upcoming presidential election. The only Republican candidates of color being mentioned are either completely devoid of the ethnicity that they supposedly herald (see Ted Cruz) or are caricatures of the racial stereotype (see Herman Cain).
That brings me, finally, to Mr. Sterling who is suing the NBA for a billion dollars (which, if he wins, raises his haul to 3 billion off a mostly crappy team only made relevant because Stern wouldn’t let the Lakers have CP3). The money people are still protective of each other, and with so many still being racists, we cannot say racism is dead in America. So long as Ann Coulter gets precious hours of airtime we cannot say that racism is dead in America.
So, it aint dead. Lets keep trying to kill it.