Next Badger Club discusses how systemic racism is the birth defect of the United States

For some, the historic election of Barack Obama in 2008 was a clear sign the dreams of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s had been fulfilled — we had finally entered a post-racial era free of divisiveness based on skin color.

How could a country that elected a Black man as president really be racist? But the reality of the intervening years has made it clear that, although great progress has been made, race is still a central defining conflict within our nation.

When many people think of racism, they imagine one person with negative views toward another person or group of a different race. This is interpersonal racism.

However, if we broaden our focus we can see racism woven into the very fabric of the customs, laws, and regulations that make up our society and institutions — routinely giving advantage to one social or ethnic group at the expense of another. This is systemic racism. Systemic racism dates to our nation’s founding, impacting both indigenous people and non-native slaves. Chattel slavery is often referred to as “America’s original sin.”

Contemporary systemic racism presents itself in ways both overt and subtle. Examples can be seen in daily news headlines drawn from its impacts in criminal justice, health care, housing, wealth, and education. We are divided in our access to, and experience of, these resources along racial lines through systems that confer positions of superiority and inferiority.

If one group is continually marginalized over centuries, with no effective recourse on the horizon, what are the consequences for our broader society and our nation?

Both the oppressor and oppressed are dehumanized through systemic racism, and society as a whole is made weaker. This threatens the health of the republic, making it vulnerable to negative forces such as ethnonationalist propaganda, driving partisan extremism to the point of total political dysfunction. In such an environment, simply running normal elections, paying the country’s bills, or maintaining critical infrastructure may become impossible.

Fixing a systemic problem requires a systemic solution. To achieve systemic equity, we must deal with the difficult underlying issues collectively at both individual and institutional levels.

Individually, prejudice is not congenital, it is learned. It is rooted in fear and lack of knowledge and is propagated by a tribal mindset within a closed community. This environment often leaves individuals imprisoned in a closed feedback loop, and susceptible to cynical manipulation by marketers and politicians who prey on the visceral reaction engendered by fear of the “other.”

Education, experience, and self-reflection are required to unlearn prejudice. But it may prove too difficult if membership in the closed community is not optional, or the power of what “we” think and the consequences for nonconformity are too great.

If it is impossible to overcome individual prejudice at sufficient scale, it must be addressed at the institutional level. Performance of an institution is equal to the net effort of the people who animate it. Given that some individuals may never shed their prejudice, the balance of the institution’s internal power will largely decide its fate.

The question then is whether a reform majority exists and, if so, does it have the authority and means to make binding decisions for the institution? If not, only a concerted campaign can begin to eliminate systemic racism in any meaningful way.

In the end, how we deal collectively with systemic racism will have serious consequences for the future of our shared republic. Only two things are required for necessary change — knowledge and strength of will. Can we as a nation marshal enough of each?

On Thursday, March 17, the Columbia Basin Badger Club will present an online forum from noon to 1 p.m. on this important issue featuring award-winning author Thomas J. Sugrue. He earned his B.A. in history at Columbia University, a B.A. in British history at King’s College, Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in history at Harvard. He is Silver Professor of History at New York University, specializing in twentieth-century American politics, urban history, civil rights, and race, and is a recognized authority on systemic racism in America.

The forum will include a 30-minute presentation by Sugrue followed by a question and answer session. Attendees can also join an informal “Table Talk” session immediately afterward for further discussion. You can register to attend at columbiabasinbadgers.com to receive a link to connect to Zoom. Club members are not charged for meetings, while non-members pay $5.