Racism

'The Least Racist Person In The Room'

Our culture has long ignored some startling incidents relating to how Black people have been treated in our country -- and Trump is fueling incidents like these anew.

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(Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

In the middle of the second (and final) debate between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden last week, Trump made two lofty claims relating to race. The first was that he’s done more for Black people than any president with the “possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.”  The second was that he was “the least racist person in the room.” I don’t know how many people were in the darkened amphitheater that night, but even if there were only three, the claim itself is a strange one considering how Trump has energized white supremacy groups and labelled the #BlackLivesMatter movement a “symbol of hate.”

Many people believe they’re not racist because they have a Black friend or live in a multiracial neighborhood, or because they’ve never consciously offended people of color or denied them a job or loan or place to live (although from what I’ve read, Trump’s father did just that). But that’s not where the issue ends.

My ancestors weren’t here when slavery existed in the United States. I never purposely discriminated, but I have benefited or, at least, not suffered from the subtle (and none too subtle) prejudice that targets Black people.

We are all formed by the culture in which we live, and our culture has long ignored some startling incidents relating to how Black people have been treated in our country.

I’m not talking about the day-to-day slights where security guards single out Black people to follow in stores, or the likelihood of being stopped by police in a car or on foot just because you’re Black. I’m talking about big historic events that never made it into our history books.

I’m an educated person, but I never learned about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 until I saw the first episode of “Watchman” this year. In 1921, after a Black teenager was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, a battle erupted between the Black men trying to protect him from being lynched and a group of white supremacists. Over the next 18 hours, Black people were murdered and their homes and businesses burned. Among the offenders were Tulsa policemen and National Guard troops who joined others in killing people point blank. More than 35 blocks, including 1,200 businesses of what was known as the Black Wall Street, were burned, leaving at least 10,000 people homeless. There’s no official count of how many people died, but it’s believed to be at least 300.

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I was never taught this in high school. Rather, I learned about Tulsa by tuning into a TV series based on a graphic novel. Did this really happen, I wondered.  How could I not have known about it? Even now, archaeologists are uncovering what they believe to be the graves of those killed. How many other Americans have never heard of this?

Then there’s the 1898 “insurrection” of Wilmington, North Carolina, when white supremacists marched into town, governed by Black and white elected officials, and used violence to unseat them. Some Black leaders were thrown in jail, others (between 60 to 300) were killed. Once again, we don’t have exact numbers. History was rewritten after the event.

The violent overthrow of the local government by whites was recast as a race riot caused by Blacks which whites needed to quell. Thanks to books like “Wilmington’s Lie” published this year, the real story behind the massacre is being examined anew.

So, what’s Trump got to do with this? On the surface, nothing. These incidents happened a long time ago. But when young Black men are still being shot in the streets, and the President tells white supremacists “to stand back and stand by,” whether he thinks he’s racist or not is irrelevant. His persistent rhetoric feeds a way of thinking that goes back a long time.

Maybe it’s embarrassing to admit, but it’s clear. Racism still exists. White people have long been on the higher end of the social hierarchy and Black people on the lower.

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Only when we can see this from a historical, as opposed to personal, context can we move forward.

Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.

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