Timely Historical Information for the Basis of Racism In America
By: Sadie Lee
Tags: Muslim, Asian American, Black Lives Mater, Latinx, Jewish

Timely Historical Information for the Basis of Racism In America

*Many of the historical excerpts are compliments of the book Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel

My recent dip into the world of social work has felt like ice fishing. I am out on the ice and fall into a hole. I am screaming, “Help, get me out of here! The water is freezing!” I feel like this because once I truly learned about our systems of oppression, I couldn’t unsee them. I had fallen into a social explanation for human suffering and very few people could save me because few people understand how bad it is out there for women, the LGBTQ community, the homeless, BIPOC, and class mobility. My biggest learning curve has been on how rooted racism is, so here are my thoughts.

Those ‘Mexicans’

Pexels: Daniel Xavier

Official Term: Latinx, while someone may be from Mexico, many of who we label as “Mexican” might not be from Mexico(Cuba or Puerto Rico are some examples). Latin is more encompassing, and the “X” is gender inclusive.

Common statement: “They are illegal immigrants here to take our jobs.”

Historically Accurate Reality: Americans were once illegal immigrants in Mexico and the Government-sponsored Mexican workers coming to America.

Think about how many times you have boasted about drinking almond milk, how many oranges you have enjoyed in the summer, or how many times you have heard “Steve” talking about those “immigrants”. Well, here are some facts you can tell Steve:

The 1823 Monroe Doctrine where the US tried to claim that all the Western Hemisphere was all ours! We wreaked havoc and violence on Central and South America.

How about the 1898 war on Spain where we took over Cuba and other territories like Guam and Puerto Rico? How about when part of the war with Spain US troops wiped out 1/6 of the Philippine Population?

What about the fact that our “Lone Star Texas” Was Mexico’s territory that American’s migrated to as illegal immigrants and then we eventually won the territory in bloodshed?

How about the fact that US companies demand cheap labor and policies that support unfair wages and trade, and then convince us to blame Latinx instead of pointing fingers at the big man?

Questions:

Why do you think Latinx deserve to lose their land, children, and culture?

Is your opinion of Mexico encompassed in your opinion of Mexicans?

Do you think there is something inherently wrong/different/more primitive about people in Mexico that justifies this violent opinion? If so, can you find studies that indicate that skin color(or Latinx culture/skin tone) is correlated to intelligence or compassion?

If you believe there is religious inferiority, what part of your religious doctrine justifies the killing of people just like you and I?

Other Sources:

Source: Youtube, Adam Ruins Everything: Border Patrol on Channel truTV

Source: Youtube, Adam Ruins Everything: Why A Wall Won’t Stop immigration on Channel truTV

The “Arab Muslims”

Pexels: mentatdgt

Common Statement: “Those Arab Muslims are so violent!”

Historically Accurate Reality: To be very clear, Arabs are people who speak the language Arabic. Muslims are people who practice the religion of Islam.

Arab Americans:

The majority of Arab Americans are Christian.

The media depicts Arabs as incredibly violent, deceitful, and in cruel and inaccurate stereotypes. Very, very few films show any positive depictions of Arab Americans.

Arabs have faced so much violence/murders from white Americans following 9/11.

White terrorists are rising and causing surging numbers of violence yet most of our money disproportionately goes to “protecting” ourselves against the “Arab Terrorist.”

Think of the last decades of places the US has wanted to invade and the wars and violence that have ensued(Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan etc.)

Questions: What are cultural practices/communities of Arab Americans in your area?

How has violence, fear, and media depictions, harmed Arab Americans? How can we demand change in this narrative?

Muslim Americans:

Muslim communities are constantly experiencing violence/death from white threats due to Islamophobia.

Almost all our media portrays them as dangerous.

Islam has been hated all the way back to Pope Urban II in 1095.

Islam was first brought to the US by enslaved Africans .

Pew Research shows us that the reality is that Muslim Americans are well educated and middle class.

Questions: What’s the difference between Muslim, Arab, and Islam?

How many depictions do you see of Muslims on TV or in movies? How many are accurate or positive? Does your American value of religious freedom extend to all faiths? Or just your religion?

Other Sources:

Source: Youtube, Channel: Crash Course. Episode: Islam and Politics

Source: Youtube. Channel: Soul Pancake. Episode: How You See Me.

Those Blacks

Pexels: RF._.Studios

Common Statement: “The black community needs to empower themselves and be better role models for their youth.”

Historically Accurate Reality:

White America enslaved blacks for so long and never financially compensated them for it.

Then we denied them home loans, including 1 million black veterans from the war that were denied.

We redlined their communities so their schools received less funding.

Tulsa Race Massacre is when whites killed hundreds of blacks and left 10,000 black people homeless, in a community that used to be known as, “Black Wallstreet.” Even when black people worked hard and accumulated wealth, white people still stole it from them.

Questions: What are the genetic/physical differences between white and black people? (Hint: None)

Why do we see black people in disproportionate levels of poverty, with our history of stealing/denying blacks wealth, what is our responsibility as white people to make amends for this? What are other ways we can fight for racial equity despite simply ignoring the issues or throwing money at them? What personal responsibility do you hold as a white person to leverage your power for racial equity?(Hint: A lot!)

Other Sources:

Source: Youtube. Channel: Netflix. Movie: 13th Directed by-Ava DuVernay

The Asians

Pexels: Philip Justin Mamelic

Common Statement: Those Asians and their math/diseases/’cute’ traditions.

Historically Accurate Reality

We once considered Asians(people from over 20 countries, but in this case China) to be white and then ten years later they were “othered” again

We forcefully opened up Japan and China to US trade in the 19th century when those countries refused to have anything to do with America at first

Vietnam/Cambodia/Loas people did not invade us but tried to escape the invasion and disruption created by US military/economic forces

We also had many exclusion acts, and when we did allow immigrants from places like China or Japan, we only allowed men over, warping our ideas of these family systems and cultural perceptions of gender about the Chinese.

We created this idea of “Yellow Peril” (we were duped by government propaganda, depicting Asians as lazy and opium addicted). We later created positive propaganda during the Cold Wars as the government feared we would be favorable to communism.

Questions: How do you view Asians? Do you think about Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Korean Americans? What is different about Japan/China/Korea, what languages, customs or cultures are unique to these places? Why don’t Americans(328 Million Americans) know more about the over 4 billion people in Asia? What are stereotypes about Asian Americans that we hold today? Why are these stereotypes harmful and which ones are leftover from government propaganda campaigns?

Other Sources:

Source: Youtube: Channel TODAY. Activist: Olivia Munn. Episode: Olivia Munn on Violence Against Asian Americans.

Source: Youtube. Channel: TruTV. Episode: Adam Ruins Everything- How American Created the “Model Minority”

Jewish

Pexels: Cottonbro

Common Statement: The Holocaust was bad, but everything is okay now.

Historically Accurate Reality:

The hate against the Jewish faith dates far back to theological differences.

Large scale attacks were committed by Christians against Jews during the Crusades.

Jewish people are not just a race but come in every color we ascribe to race: black, brown, white etc.

The Jews are falsely accused of killing Jesus in the New Testament.

Questions: What holidays favor Christian beliefs? What days do Jewish holidays and traditions fall on? How do our school calendars reflect/respect these dates? How have we blamed Jewish people in the past for things that were not their fault?

Source: Youtube. Channel:BBC Three. Episode: Things Not To Say To Jewish People

Source: Youtube. Channel: Past To Future. Episode: History of Jews in 5 Minutes- Animation.

One of the biggest things I have learned in this journey, a thing that sounds so simple: Is that we, as humans, are all the same at heart. We are products of our systems and each worthy of life, love, and joy. We are all capable of intelligence, strength, and change. To establish another is to allow violence towards people with families and souls just like ours. We lose our own humanity when we create a separation between ourselves and other human beings.