originally published in 2017

As Exhibit (A) for the case against the US being a fundamentally racist country, step forward Barrack Obama.

President Obama had many successes: The ending of the war in Iraq, the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, his Executive Orders offering amnesty to millions of Undocumented Workers, his leadership of the so-called War Against Terror, signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to combat pay discrimination against women, and his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, Obama is undoubtedly one of the most significant Presidents ever to be elected to office.

And yet Obama will always be remembered as the first black man to become president. Let’s not forget that Obama became president of an overwhelmingly white majority nation: The total population of the US is over 300 million. Whites make up 72 % of the population. Blacks number almost 40 million in number and make up 12% of the population. Obama was elected by an overwhelmingly white population; I cannot understand how it is possible to successfully argue that an inherently racist majority white nation is capable of electing a Black President to oversee their lives and good fortune.

The whole point of racism is to deny a human being who the racist regards a a voice, any influence, any legitimacy, and, above all, to systemically deny them any power. If we choose  to honestly assess the depth of nation’s racism we should therefore use the metrics of social advancement and power as an authentic indicator; if this is true the idea that a racist country gives a man or woman of colour the ultimate power shape to their social laws, create and direct their wealth, control their army, their navy, and the nation’s nuclear arms is patently contradictory and obviously ridiculous.

Exhibit (B) for the case against the US being a fundamentally racist country, step forward Kamala Harris. Joe Biden is old and frail. Every single time Biden goes to bed the entire Western Alliance wonders if he will make it through to the morning. Kamala Harris, in all but name, has been elected as Prez Number 2. Yet not one single US citizen is marching around the White House claiming Harris isn’t fit to hold the top job solely because of her colour.

And let’s be clear, if this racist modern day Cassandra was breaking down in tears because no one was listening to them, they wouldn’t even be charged with a hate crime. No, they would be taken to the nearest mental asylum and never be seen again.

Yes, there are many overwrought folks who are spitting froth over their breakfast every time they see Harris on the morning news, but most of these demented haters loathe Harris because of her policies, not her colour.

Exhibit (C) for the case against the US being a fundamentally racist country, step forward the many men and women of colour who have run major American institutions.

Colin Powell held the position of Secretary of State and was the Commander of the US armed forces; Condoleezza Rice a black woman, was also Secretary of State and reputed to hold the ear of her President as few others; Eric Holder was the Attorney general; Sonia Sotomayor a member of the Supreme Court (and if this isn’t a position of power I don’t know what is) is of Puerto Rican descent…Deb Haaland is the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history; Miguel Cardona the Education chief is of Puerto Rican heritage; General Lloyd Austin is currently heading up the Pentagon —- the argument that the US is institutionally racist, when the most powerful institutions in the US, the government have been led by notable people of colour simply doesn’t hold up.

On an almost daily level the news channels of America throw up an abundance of everyday racism that Ganges from the childishly trivial to the truly abhorrent. There’s more than enough genuine hate to witness and oppose without overcooking or oversimplifying the argument.

Samuel Johnson

samjhere@icloud.com