A national reset devoid of accountability for social and political actions that entrapped some citizens under a harness of complicit classism and racialized decision making at its inception cannot now be shifted to “non-racialism” without contending with how the game was rigged from the outset. And by “contending with” I don’t mean simply acknowledging.
Non-racial ideology only disguises dominance that was established and curated by a ruling class who advanced economically through centuries of preferential policies that let them in and locked others out –by design. To act as if civil rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are responsible for present day inequality is gaslighting. It is lying by omission. Making the solution to a historical problem the new problem is diabolical. But so is racism, so the shoe fits.
Identity politics is encoded in the fabric of America, and those who are at its mercy did not write these codes. Those who feel suddenly marginalized by identity politics need to take a long walk down memory lane. There is a compelling reason why the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor in Nazi Germany was inspired by Jim Crow. American racism was the case study for successful disenfranchisement and we need to stop acting like this has not had a serious impact on social order to date.
Colonization, segregation, apartheid–these devices were strategic and intricate, created to have a lasting impact, forecasting a social order that would outlive its predecessors, in favor of its ancestors. When framers build, they design blueprints that will withstand the test of time; they build with intention. Christian nationalism has perpetuated hypocrisy, cultural elitism, and piety, usurping real righteousness with a thirst for power cloaked in morality, selective outrage, and manipulative moral rhetoric, a wolf in sheep’s clothing to put patriotism rooted in exclusion, extermination, and exploitation on a pedestal. A new iteration of those ancient Brood of Vipers.
Nationalism that chooses to deny actions that shaped a caste system that dares to be dismantled by inserting neo-colonization tactics is a mind game. If ethics mean anything, then a foundational rebuild takes all transgressions into account and doesn’t select which ethics matter more. The Declaration of Independence is romanticized as a bastion of heroism and glory, so how did we get here? For whom was it intended? Words are futile without action and ideals can be duplicitous when fidelity does not carry justice. Plausible deniability is the antithesis of the words so many revere as the strength of this nation.
A rebuild is overdue, this time with a different sense of humanity than that which cemented this myth of greatness. Repeating an old model under new force is nothing more than reinvesting in a distorted and dishonest interpretation of liberty and justice for all.