Chased

By Carl Malone

Have you or someone you know been the victim of a racist attack? How do you process that? How do you cope in the aftermath? Chased takes an in depth look at racism in America, breaking it down to its simplest form that easily shows how it truly affects all of society. This book exposes those relationships, environments, and other external source

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carl Malone
• Release date: Jan 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987071229

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Chased

How to Finally End Racism Once and for All

Advance Review Copy Not for Distribution

Carl Malone

Chased: How to Finally End Racism Once and for All

Copyright © 2022 by Carl Malone, JMT Publishing

For more about this author, please visit www.carlmaloneauthor.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

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Editing by The Pro Book Editor

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eBook ISBN: 979-8-9870712-0-5

paperback ISBN: 979-8-9870712-1-2

hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9870712-2-9

1. Main category—Self-Help

2. Other category—Education

First Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Understanding Your Story

Racism vs. Winning

What role will race play in Heaven?

Chapter 2 – Acknowledging and Accepting Our History

Chapter 3 – The Impact of Systemic Racism

Business

Financial Institutions

Housing & Community Development

Gentrification

Health Care

Criminal Justice & Judicial System

Political System

Redistricting

Gerrymandering

Religious Organizations

Education

Chapter 4 – The Pain and Impact of Racial Trauma

The Victim

Depression

Anger

No Hope or Hopelessness

Guilt

Endangerment

Revictimization

The Effects of Generational Trauma Caused by Racism

Chapter 5 – A Message to Black America

Fear for Our Safety

Fear of Being Uncomfortable

Fear of Commitment

Fear of Failure

Fear of Standing Up and Fighting Racism

Taking a Stand

Fear of Reinvesting in and Supporting Our Community

Chapter 6 – The Role of the Church in Race Relations

Finding Agape Love

Reaching the Core of Racial Reconciliation

Most Common Reasons that Prohibit Diversity in the Church and in Worship

Five I’s

Racial Reconciliation Study Program

Why Truth Matters

Chapter 7 – The State of Wokeness in America & What It Means

Forms of Complicit Racism

Organizational Racial Inclusion Matrix

Types of Organizational Culture

A Picture of the Matrix

The Creation of the Cultural Race War

Chapter 8 – Redefining Your Inner Being

Six Common Response States to Racism

State of Defeat

State of Isolation

State of Fear

State of Abandonment

State of Racial Compliance

State of Empowerment

Chapter 9 – America’s Grade on Racial Equality

A Blemish on our Greatness

Formal Apology

Healing & Rehabilitation

Atonement

Forty Acres & a Mule

Equal Rights & Justice

America’s Report Card

Areas Graded Evaluation Grade

Grading Scale

Chapter 10 – Improving Racial Equity and Equality in America

Racial Unity Plan – Part I

Racial Unity Plan – Part II

Racial Unity Plan – Part III

Conclusion

About the Author

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated in memory of my mother, Margaret Louise Malone, who taught me how to love all people, even those who have wronged you, and to seek forgiveness from others when you fall short.

&

To my uncle, Thomas Rhodes (TJ), who inspired and encouraged me to go after my dreams, especially the big ones.

Introduction

In 1980, at the age of eleven, I vividly remember watching the news and hearing about the attempted assignation of Vernon Jordan, a civil rights activist and president of the National Urban League at the time. I recall feeling very sad and having a sense of shame for our city that an incident of this nature happened and hit so close to home. This event altered my view of civil rights activists, and I thought of this line of work as akin to being a prisoner on death row. It wasn’t a matter of if it was going to happen but when the assassination would occur. This was twelve years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, and surprisingly at the time, I believed that White hatred was only displayed to Black leaders or Black people involved in the civil rights movement and not regular Black people. That was just how my young brain processed this traumatic incident, and I was determined to stay away from being involved in the civil rights movement because it was just too dangerous.

On a sunny spring day in May of 1987, at the age of fifteen, I experienced a defining moment that convinced me that racism and hatred of others are real, not just a terminated story that only existed years ago, as depicted in the miniseries, Roots, by Alex Haley. I remember that incident as if it had happened yesterday.

I was on my way to a regional track meet to support my high school teammates, who were competing for an opportunity to advance to the state track meet. The event was being held at Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in an area of the city called Waynedale. At the time, that school was only about six miles from my home, so I had to catch a bus and then walk another one-and-a-half miles from the bus stop. I recall the bus driver giving me walking directions as I left the bus, and then I set off, very eager and excited to get to the meet and watch my team compete. About a mile from the school, I came upon what appeared to be a traditional middle-class neighborhood with sidewalks and homes on both sides of the street. It was nothing out of the ordinary, until I approached a home with a Confederate flag on the porch. The next thing I knew, a guy was glaring at me and screaming the N-word amid other expletives.

I kept walking because to get to my destination, I had to go past his home. I was startled, but seeing another White gentleman, maybe in his sixties, out in his yard directly across from the home with the flag, mowing the lawn, gave me a bit of comfort. I believed I could just ignore the first individual and continue to my intended destination. However, before I could take my next five steps, the man at the house with the Confederate flag ran back into his home, grabbed his shotgun, and pointed it at me while yelling the N-word again at the top of his lungs and saying, I am going to shoot you.

At that moment, my excitement and anticipation instantly turned into fear and disbelief. I screamed and began crying because I thought my life was about to end. I stood frozen in my tracks, trying to plead for help from his neighbor, the older gentleman who was cutting his grass. I can vividly recall him just staring at me in silence as if I were at fault for being there. Then I ran, praying that I would not be shot in the back. Fortunately, this individual did not leave his porch or pull the trigger, and I made it to the track meet. When I arrived, I was not only tired as if I had been competing in back-to-back running events but could not stop shaking and thinking about what had just happened to me. This is one of the defining moments that had a major impact on how I viewed racism and the deadly consequences of hatred, especially when left unaddressed or not taken seriously.

Now, fast forward to the year 2021, when we witnessed an insurrection at the US Capitol involving an angry mob of citizens using racial slurs and some toting the Confederate flag, a known symbol of hatred, through the halls of the Capitol tundra. It’s hard to believe the racial divide and civil unrest in our country are in some aspects as prominent today as they were sixty years ago.

Do you know how significant race is in the American political landscape and party affiliation? Politics is one avenue some people utilize to conceal their racial biases by aligning themselves with the party that will support their race most. This can be seen on both sides of the aisle and often overshadows real issues that are more important in selecting a political candidate or party.

Given recent events surrounding protests and unrest stemming from racially charged incidents, most Americans would agree race relations are a major domestic problem that our country is facing right now. However, the significance of this issue and the magnitude of the problem are often viewed differently based on your racial composition. For instance, how I view racism and inequality is most influenced by my personal experiences—my story as a Black man—which I carry with me every day of my life. Acts of racism are thus more personal to me because of the potentially deadly consequences for my family and me. On the other hand, if you’re not Black, your story will be different, and you’re probably not going to have these feelings or the same sense of urgency. It is human nature to care most about issues we each deem more important to ourselves and our family, but we should not lose sight of what it takes to behave like a civilized society that is accepting of all races, nor do we have to in a country with laws meant to allow freedom for everyone. With that said, I think our nation’s approach to addressing racial injustices and inequality must be approached from the understanding that people are going to naturally lean in the direction that best benefits them personally while aiming for compromise—collaboration to ensure all of our country’s citizens can enjoy the same freedoms.

The purpose of this book is to explain how your upbringing, experiences, and race play a critical role in how you view and respond to racial injustices, inequality, and their contemporary relevance and to take a deeper look at systematic racism in American institutions and why they have played a pivotal role in the continuation and sustainability of racism. More importantly, this book also provides viable solutions that rely on a nonbiased comprehensive national unity program based on implementing standards and metrics to deter systemic racism instead of volatile human judgment that is often skewed by feelings and bad experiences that prevent even the best of us from doing what is right and fair when dealing with inequality and injustice in America.

To achieve this goal, I believe we as individuals must first be honest with ourselves and analyze our stories, whether they evoke positive or negative feelings and emotions about race. Additionally, we need to be willing to listen objectively to other people who may not look like us and who have perspectives that are different from our own. This not only allows us to grow, but also elevates us emotionally to the level of love and compassion where we care for all of humanity.

Chapter 1

Understanding Your Story

Sharing our truths can provide the opportunity for great healing.

—Kristen Noel

Growing up with brown skin in America is a part of my story, and I have learned to embrace all the challenges that come with it. I can honestly say that I am in a good place now both emotionally and spiritually. However, while experiencing racial profiling, discrimination, racial bias, and exclusion through the years, it certainly took a toll on my life, and there were times when I became disheartened and psychologically disoriented regarding my career and life in general. I felt like I was trapped in a world where no matter what I did right, I would be seen and treated as a second-class citizen, and there was nothing I could do but accept it. As I became an adult and began to reflect on my life and how I felt about racism, I realized there were three impactful events that had brought me to a breaking point.

In the first event, as shared in the introduction of this book, I was fifteen years old when I was first called racial obscenities by a White man who threatened to shoot me with a shotgun.

The second event occurred on December 5, 2006, when my wife and kids and I were moving into our newly purchased home in DeSoto County, Mississippi. I was in my mid-thirties, and we’d just finished a four-month-long search for the perfect home and neighborhood in which to raise our family. We were filled with excitement and relief on moving day. After spending hours moving furniture and other belongings into our new home, we heard a knock at the door. My wife answered the door, and, to her surprise, it was the police. I was resting when I heard her yell out that someone was here to see me. I was very shocked to see