Diversity: A Reality for America, Racism Still Its Nightmare

By Charles N Nathaniel Smith

Diversity: A Reality for America, Racism Still Its Nightmare was written to provide a contemporary look at historical events in America and offer a forward-thinking viewpoint on how if certain major institutions took the lead on race relations and race intervention, their impact would forever change the face of America's racial problems. W. E. DuBois stated in 1903, "That the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line." However, what we have witnessed in America as the problem of the twentieth-first century is blatant and covert "racism." The book takes a look at the public school system, including higher education institutions in America, and proposes that if they had focused on the race issue differently, where we would be, as a country, in the area of race relations? The author believes that we would live as the constitution stands for "We as a People," not one people, but all people where all lives truly matters, every day. The book examines several areas: children growth, public schools, higher education, television, the government, and the military. It highlights points in American history where African American people have played a significant role in America's success but also exposes times when America has treated African American people as less than citizens and developed policies and laws that intentionally prevented them from being on equal standing with other American citizens. The book primarily focuses on African Americans and their relationship with America because aside from other races, the race issue in this country is largely dynamically woven between the African Americans and the American society in which we live. Although America has excelled in many areas involving inventions, technology, research, science, and space travel, it has fallen tragically short with developing the human spirit for all American citizens. The author believes that if we are able to make significant progress in these relationships then America will move forward and truly become "great." Many are aware that this information is not new; however, the book approaches the topic in a very creative way, in order to assist readers in finding a place to consider their views on race relations in America. A section is devoted to the topic of "white privilege," which the author believes is real in America. Another chapter focuses on African American achievement in the military and their history of commitment to America but also discusses how they were treated after each war until a failed war caused the military to rethink their policies concerning race. In each of the major institutions discussed in the book, the central theme is, if America and these areas would only take a different position on race relations in American, there could be a positive and significant way white Americans and African Americans would interact and relate to one another beyond the public display of a few biracial marriages. A deeper personal transformation would ensue that could impact how white Americans educate their children about race and discuss the topic among their families and friends. The race issue has been both debated and casted aside by politicians and those in leadership positions because the excuse is the government cannot regular race relations, yet it manages to regulate everything else. The book is written to educate some, inform others, enlighten all, and calls for America to face the issue and take action. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of recommendations that have been passed down through history and some that the author recommends. The book makes the point that if we teach about race and the benefits of diversity at the beginning of life and throughout each person's life, perhaps we would approach race with a different and more accepting state of mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642144765

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Diversity

A Reality for America, Racism Still Its Nightmare

Charles Nathaniel Smith

Copyright © 2018 Charles Nathaniel Smith

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64214-475-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64214-476-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

In Memory of My Mother

I look to a day, when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I look forward to that day and hope it will come soon. After all, we never thought that we would ever see a president of color, and definitely not an African American!

Edits by Mrs. Kim F. Smith, instructor, College of Business, Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama

Dr. Bernadette Bruster, interim dean, College of Humanities, Wiley College, Marshall, Texas

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my wife, Kim, for all of her support and for taking such wonderful care of our children, especially the baby girl, as I moved from state to state in different work capacities.

I thank my friends and colleagues who have always provided me with encouragement and purchased my books over the years.

Chapter I

Introduction

In 1903, W. E. B. Dubois wrote in his book titled, The Soul of Black Folk, that the problem of the twentieth century would be the color line (Dubois, 1903); and writing sixty-four years later, Dr. King, in his book titled Where Do We Go From Here: Chaotic or Community that America would have to grapple with the issue of race and skin color (King, 1967).

When we examine the current state of affairs in this country, we find that both of these statements are still true. America has transitioned into the twenty-first century sadly, still witness to major pockets of racism and pernicious racist acts. The charge from Dr. King some fifty-plus years ago is still a serious cause for concern about where we, as a nation, are going and how we plan to arrive at a place where we can have open and honest discussions concerning race.

For years, great black activists like Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Dr. Mary McCloud Bethune, Richard Wright, Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Dr. John Hope Franklin, Reverend Al Sharpton, Dr. Dorothy Height, United State House Representative John Louis, Reverend Andrew Young, Dr. Barbara Jordan, and many other members of the Congressional Black Casus have lead the charge to move beyond racism in America. Although several national organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Urban League, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), South Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and others have adopted the same charge. They have only had moderate progress, most of which took place during the height of the Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1968.

Despite progress and the hope of integration, the vast majority of white Americans were unwilling to integrate. Instead they retreated to high-priced suburbs where they found an unassailable place to safeguard many of their racist attitudes. Three years after the dawning of the twenty-first century, two white university administrators, Bowen and Rudenstine, declared that race matters profoundly in America and differs substantially from any other forms of diversity. According to Bowen and Rudenstine (2003), race has to be understood on its own terms because the issue of racism runs so deeply and have created problems in America since the early days of this country. Race in America is often such a painful topic, and it has been mixed with all of the other isms, which people have found it much easier to discuss. Discussing race tends to generate so many emotions that most would rather not talk about it at all. Cornell West, a noted African American scholar, addressed the issues of race head on in his book titled Race Matters. West discussed the concept of people moving from one extreme to another, yet unable to embrace the basic fundamentals of how much race influences everything we do in America (West, 1993).

As we explore the period between 1993 and the early decades of the new century, it is apparent that cries regarding racial disparities in America continue to fall on deaf ears. For more than four hundred years, race has been a major challenge in this country. The issue of race has been echoed down through the years from every hill and valley, from Washington DC to California and from Maine to Florida. It has touched every American’s life in some way or another, particularly for African Americans. It has been the Achilles’ heel that has kept them living in a state of uncertainty, even in a time of great accomplishments. Just about every major African American writer, activist, or public speaker has talked about the race issue and the need for Americans to come to grips with it and move beyond the racist attitudes and behaviors that keep us suspended in this battle about race and color.

However, when we focus on the presidential election of 2008 and how many people of all races in America were begging and searching for something better, we elected the first African-American person to the presidency. This selection gave so many African American people hope for a new America. Many African Americans, as well as most of the world, never believed that in their lifetime America would ever elect a black person or any person of color to the country’s highest executive position. And yet, despite the traditional odds, President Obama was elected. I am sure that all of the black political activists who have passed on were probably shouting from beyond too. Those activists who were alive and still fighting for justice witnessed this major milestone for America and rejoiced. . . The world and many people of color in America never believed it was possible to have an African American president in the White House.

In 2012, the same kind of magic happened again and President Obama was reelected for another historical term as president of the United States of America. I believe this election was a little different than the first because the Republican Party and their candidate, Mitt Romney, believed that they had stolen the election by using money and power to destroy all of the good accomplishments achieved by the Obama administration. And yet he was elected to a second term.

There are probably several reasons for me to write this book, but basically as an academic, businessman, and an engaged American citizen, I am simply tired of watching America fail to take the race issue seriously. Innocent people are dying every day from mean acts of hatred in this country. I grew up in the segregated south back in the fifties and sixties. I lived in a poor black community and attended an all-black elementary, junior high, and for the first two years, a predominately black high school until the city decided to integrate. Although my mother worked as a housemaid most of her life, she was always active in church and participated in numerous community organizations. Even into her later years, my mother kept up with politics, but she never believed that she would see an African American president in her lifetime. Sadly, she passed away many years before President Obama’s election, but her children were able to witness the historical event.

I have clear memories of growing up in Virginia and the kind of racism we experienced. The kinds of racist acts and attitudes that some of my friends and I experienced in undergraduate and graduate school can be a source of contention if we allowed them to be. I remember clearly in my freshmen English class when the white professor told me that black people had interesting lives and that he enjoyed reading my stories, but he realized that Black students could not write. No matter how hard I tried to write well in his class, he always gave me a C. This was disturbing to me because I had studied under Mrs. Marie Maniego, who was considered one of the top English teachers in the state of Virginia, at Petersburg High School. Unfortunately, racial and competency biases held by the majority of white privileged Americans would impact me throughout my life.

Over the course of my career, I have experienced a lot of racism, but I would never let that stop me from accomplishing my goals. In my adult life, I have experienced racism while interviewing for positions at predominately white institutions and realized later, that in many cases, I did not get the job because I was black or, as articulated by my friends, not the right kind of black person, whatever that meant. Growing up, I, like so many of my friends, was told often by my mother and other relatives that I had to be twice as good as white people in anything that I did. I have always remembered these words and, sadly, found this disproportionate measure to be true.

The focus in this book will be centered on African Americans, not because their experience with racism is more demeaning than what the Hispanics/Latinos, or American Indians have had to deal with, but because African Americans’ history of racism and separatism is so deeply rooted in the history of both this country and slavery. No national figure expressed regret for the pain and suffering inflicted upon African American citizens, nor have equivalent attempts to create opportunities for them to prosper like so many whites and other immigrants were able to do.

African Americans are also the central focus in this book because of the mental suffering and the constant acts of long-term institutionalized racism used in this country that have prevented so many African Americans from progressing, except in very small numbers, beyond the boundaries of poverty. Even in a climate of change in the country, with a president of African descent, we still find incidents of racial acts occurring all over the country in the educated halls of public school, high school, colleges, and universities.

The urgency of this book is apparent as we watch President Obama work so hard to move the country forward while so many roadblocks were being strategically placed in his way. The quality of our children’s education in America continues to fall shamelessly behind the rest of the world, as public education systematically deteriorates while segregated private schools continues to prosper. As a result, affluent African American parents enroll their children in private schools to remove them from poorly funded and operated public schools.

Today, the public schools in many our major cities and even many smaller cities are almost all African Americans with some pockets of Hispanic and a few poor white students. Ian Millhiser (2015) and Emily Richmond (2012), both stated in two separate articles that today’s public schools are more segregated now than they were in the 1960s before the Civil Rights Movement. Segregated school systems keep students apart until they attend colleges or universities where many of them are now forced to interact with a person of color or even an African American for the first time. White students who attend select Ivy League schools with little to no minority representation may find themselves encapsulated from direct contact or in many cases interaction with African American students. When those white students eventually enter the workforce or live in places where their exposure to African Americans occur often, their negative attitudes and opinions of those who are different may have already formed. At this point, it may be too late to instill an appreciation and respect for racial diversity and equality.

When we look at the situation for African Americans in this country, we know from history how terrorized African American people have been by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the White Citizens Councils, and their political machines. I, for one, do not believe that all of these groups have disbanded or changed their minds on how they view African Americans. Perhaps, the members of the white supremacy groups, KKK and other racist groups have traded one robe for another and are now serving as judges, legislators, mayors of cities, congressmen and women, or even senators. I would hope not; however, this is America and we still hate to talk about race. We as Americans have to recognize that all of the children who were raised by members of the Klan Klux Klan and other racist groups did not just change their philosophies regarding white privilege overnight and that their sons and daughters have been miraculously cured of hate and bigotry.

I will briefly review and discuss history and review policies of institutions in this country where I believe they have failed to make a difference.

Chapter I, The Introduction, will provide an overview of reasons for the book. Chapter II, Childhood and Beyond, takes a brief look at children, their ability to play with each other, a study conducted on children, and white privilege. Chapter III, The Public School Neglect, covers issues of racism in public schools, the growing number of private schools, and the unequal educational opportunities for African American children. Chapter IV, Institutions of Higher Education Slow Walking, looks at the increased number of racist acts taking place on college’s campuses, the fail of these institution to implement any systemic approach to racism, and the legislation in the past few years that have created even more issues with race. Chapter V, African Americans in America’s Wars, explores the America wars and the contributions of African Americans and how the military system for years failed to have any impact on race. Chapter VI, Television: Positive or Negative for African Americans, briefly look at television and covers some history of the motion picture industry, television, and how African Americans for years were portrayed, and even today, how so few televisions have provided a more inclusive view of African Americans in America. Chapter VII, The Government’s Failure, focuses on how the government has allowed racism to exist in America, by the laws that have been passed and the lack of attentions that has been paid to the issue of race in America. Chapter VIII, American’s First and Yet, deals with the elections of the first president of African Americans descent and the escalating number of racist acts during his tenure. Chapter IX, provides recommendations for the road ahead as we attempt to make America great for all races. Chapter X, Conclusion, focuses on where we need to go from here and how many organizations in a power position