Friday, February 8, 2019

Racism Is Criminal Behavior



Racism is not just an expression of someone’s innate prejudice. In reality it is an expression of the unjust behavior that emanates from the rationalization and institutionalization of injustice in a society such as we have become.

Racism is criminal behavior. It is a violation of everything that we should stand for as civil society. Anyone may harbor prejudice; we are prone to individual likes and dislikes. However, to inflict harm of any kind, and by any means as a result of that personal dysfunction is cause for remedial legal action.

The focus on an offender’s complexion and the complexion of victims in our analysis of these offenses is essentially a distraction. It is a distraction because it redirects our focus to individual racial angst, rather than on the essential criminality of an action. This act of redirection serves those who would have us not seriously examine the real causes of such behavior.

To be absolutely clear, there are oppressive brutes of all hue. Criminals come in all colors and in all the variations of gender. This being the case, there needs to be a real awakening to the structural injustices that become institutionalized in our social and economic culture.

It is time to wake up to the reality that there are individuals and corporate entities among us intent on accruing to themselves everything their vain hearts desire at the expense of the well being of others. They act to accomplish their goals through every agency they can, and at the expense of the life and humanity of others. To such characters and corporations, “white supremacy" is just one of many excuses used to rationalize the inequity they perpetuate. To such persons the question: “How much is enough?”, is nothing more that an inconvenient itch that they must endure.

Beyond our focus on artificial differences between folk, we must fasten our attention on critical issues such as: the demand for just wages at home and abroad, more reasonable cost of credit for those who need it, responsible care and sharing of the environment, the demilitarization of our economies,  a real focus on equal access to education, and ensuring the availability of life-saving technologies to all people in a world that is becoming more and more interconnected.

Ultimately the peace and stability of our society is a function of a shared commitment to the establishment of Justice. We must not be distracted from this goal by “newsworthy” preoccupation with social drama. As long as we are human we will experience the foibles of unperfected character. We will in all honesty admit personal prejudices that, if exposed, will shame us. Shaming one another is however not a viable objective in pursuit of Justice for all. It is therefore imperative that we be constrained by the Rule of Law in our social interactions.

The work of Justice demands that we act according to established standards of civility in a society where no one is above the Law. No one.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I Saw God Today…

( Reflections on life from a place of wonderful simplicity in Jamaica … years ago) I saw God today In simplicity of life In the hopefulness ...