[[link removed]]

RUNNING IN CIRCLES ON RACIAL JUSTICE  
[[link removed]]


 

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
January 16, 2025
LA Progressive
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ The reaction to racial justice is relentless and comes whenever
strives are made to make the nation more inclusive. _

, Image by Thomas G. on Pixabay

 

We keep running in circles when it comes to addressing racial justice
in the US. This means that with every advance we almost come back to
the same place and must fight the battles all over again. It doesn't
mean that progress has not been made, but the progress retrogresses
due to the immediate backlash that charges any advance to rectify past
racial injustices as an affront to white people. At best there is an
ebb and flow when it comes to rectifying the racial harms and damages
of the past. 

Race history and the many initiatives to rectify past wrongs are more
of a circle than a linear line. It may be an expanding circle
considering advances, but for every victory won, there is a vicious
throwback. It is almost like the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day," where
morning after morning we awaken to histories repeating itself, and
where victories of racial justice are swept away by the courts or a
change in the body politics. The struggle continues, and in many
cases, we must begin again.

Every racial justice victory in the United States came about because
of the Civil War and the various modes of resistance employed by
victims of racial injustices. Mass protests and resistance have
generally forced those in power to seek easy answers to placate the
anger of the victims of racial injustice. But every attempt to satisfy
and pacify the various protests is met with vociferous protests that
erase hard-fought victories. Just a few examples over four centuries
in US history serve as evidence. At each juncture of political
protest, those in power have historically responded with various
initiatives designed to calm the uprisings and unrest. However, any
advance is quickly eradicated under the guise of reverse
discrimination.

After the Civil War, one man/one vote was militarily imposed,
resulting in the elections of Black men to numerous political offices
in the South. With those advances came the passage of the 13th
Amendment in 1865, abolishing slavery. The Civil Rights Act of 1866
granted citizenship to people born in the US. This served as a
response to the 1857 Supreme Court _Dred Scott_ decision that ruled
Blacks were not citizens. The 14th Amendment passed in 1868 addressed
and attempted to rectify state laws that abridged the rights of Black
people. In 1870, the 15th Amendment was adopted that attempted to
grant the right to vote to Black men (It should be noted that it
wasn't until 1919 that women had the right to vote). In 1871, another
Civil Rights Act was passed, also known as the Klu Klux Klan Act,
which was a response to the growing terrorism used by whites against
Blacks and advances in civil rights. These acts of terror were
designed to take away the vote, enforce racial codes, and re-imposed
the restrictions on Black people that had been granted post-Civil War.
The backlash turned back the clock on the numerous advances that
sought to correct the racial injustices of the past.

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and Andrew Johnson became
President. Andrew Johnson was a southerner who worked to turn back the
numerous advances made in racial justice. Under his administration,
amnesty was granted to Confederates. Confiscated lands (plantations)
were returned to those who rebelled against the Union. The last
remaining Union troops were withdrawn from the South in the Compromise
of 1877, resulting in the reestablishment of pre-Civil War policies
that completed the circle of restoring white southern rule,
reinstating the Black Codes, and allowing states to make policies that
re-created de facto enslavement. 

The circle turned 360 degrees from voting rights, citizenship,
anti-terrorism, social rectification, and attempts at inclusion to
making it virtually impossible for Blacks to vote, live and work, or
engage in the routines of life without fear and intimidation.
Reconstruction, a response to racial injustices and calls to the
nation to be inclusive and equitable, was short-lived, from 1865-1877,
and in that short time it ushered in amendments and Civil Rights Acts.
However, it was attacked from the beginning, sabotaged, and died
because of white backlash. Most of the steps forward were spurned
within 12 short years, and all the advances undone. The circle of
racial justice took Blacks from winning to having to fight all over
again.

In response to the racial justice organizing in the 20th century and
the social unrest through demonstrations, sit-ins, and mass marches,
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. This act prohibited
discrimination in labor and attempted to end segregation in public
facilities, public schools, and federally funded programs (keep in
mind that 10 years prior, in 1954, the Supreme Court had already ruled
segregation in public schools unconstitutional and ordered schools to
desegregate). In 1965, The Voting Rights Act was passed to challenge
the many schemes employed by states to abridge the ability of Blacks
to vote. It also required southern states to seek permission to
substantively change voting practices. However, in 2013, the Supreme
Court in _Shelby County v. Holder_
[[link removed]] gutted
these protections, arguing that they were "based on 40-year-old facts
having no logical relationship to the present day." Hence, voting
protections enacted in 1965 were gutted, effectively rendering the act
a relic of the past. This is an example of the ebb, or the circular
motion to the nature of racial rectification in the US.

In the 21st century, white resistance to the freedoms of Blacks to
move and live within society coupled with continued fears of whites
towards Black people resulted in "Stand Your Ground" laws. These were
boilerplate legislation written by the American Legislative Exchange
Council and offered to state legislators, which produced glaring and
frightening consequences for Black people. Black people were shot for
ringing the wrong door bell
[[link removed]],
or for being in the wrong neighborhood
[[link removed]].
But all of this played into a larger scheme to erode equal rights and
turn back the clock on racial rectification.

The reaction to racial justice is relentless and comes whenever
strives are made to make the nation more inclusive. As the Black Lives
Matter movement emerged, trying to hold people and society
accountable, the movement was spurred on by the killings of Michael
Brown and Ahmaud Arbery by vigilantes. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,
Sandra Bland, and Philando Castile were examples of police killings.
In the streets, voices chanted "Defund the police," and bodies blocked
expressways and intersections. Political leaders and bodies across the
country entertained discussions on the matter. 

Corporate America responded along with other entities employing
"Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (DEI) measures. DEI became part of
the discussion in the economic, political, and educational arena. The
corporate world responded to the various outcries of disadvantaged
groups that included racial and the LGBTQIA community and sought ways
to demonstrate their desire to include and sell to these groups. Among
those employing DEI initiatives were Amazon, Meta (FaceBook),
McDonald's, Walmart, Ford, Lowe's, John Deere, American Airlines,
Boeing, Jack Daniel's (Brown-Forman), Caterpillar, Harley-Davidson,
Molson Coors, Nissan, Polaris, Toyota, and Anheuser-Busch.

The criticisms, however, grew louder as the "Turn Back the Clock" and
Make America Great Again activists homed in on "wokeness" and began to
attack those corporations for their support of racial justice and gay
rights. The 2023 Supreme Court decision on college admissions, which
struck down affirmative action programs declaring that race cannot be
a factor in college admissions, was used to advance charges of reverse
discrimination and of lowering standards. Then, with the election of
Trump, the attacks on DEI found greater energy, and corporations
demonstrated lesser courage. Each of the corporations mentioned has
since rolled back or eliminated their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
programs. This is another example of a 360-degree turn in the struggle
for racial justice and inclusion within society, culture, and
workplace.

Blacks have been historically wronged and remain disadvantaged. We
continue to lag behind our white counterparts in terms of education,
economics, and wealth. If progress is linear, then we could surmise
that at some point Blacks would catch up to whites. Instead, in most
categories, the gaps and disparities have grown wider. 

The only way to explain this phenomenon is that we are engaged in a
circle of gaining and then losing. The circle may grow larger,
signifying the progress being made, but the hard-fought victories in
terms of racial justice are always met with a vicious backlash that
makes progress a circular motion where we end up, it seems, where we
began. 

If the United States is ever going to create a society of real growth
and opportunity, it needs to stop chasing its tail. It needs to change
its belief that correcting past wrongs is somehow to penalize someone
else. The irony is that those who complain about reverse
discrimination are the ones who have been the beneficiaries of a
system of discrimination. A strong society must come to terms with its
history, tell the stories of the good, the bad, and the ugly, and
muster the courage to create and maintain policies, programs, and
systems that correct the sins of the past.

_REV. GRAYLAN SCOTT HAGLER is an advisor with FOR-USA
[[link removed]] and the founder and president of Faith
Strategies USA [[link removed]]. Until retiring from his
position in 2022 Hagler was Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational
United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C._

_In 2008, Dick and Sharon launched the LA Progressive —
intentionally bringing to the fore the progressive voice in Los
Angeles with a focus on the centrality of race. Their mission was and
is to provide a platform for progressive thought, opinion, and
perspectives on current events._

_The LA Progressive openly and unapologetically supports and employs
advocacy journalism. We believe the media not only informs the public,
but it also works towards engaging citizens and creating public
debate. We embrace the idea of civic journalism and reject the idea
that objective reporting is even possible. We don’t believe that
journalists can be objective spectators of politics, and we don’t
pretend otherwise._

* Racial Justice
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]