Systemic Racism Hurts Everybody

[trenton]

I have made a crucial breakthrough in understanding how racism hurts both black people and white people. This is important because it breaks through the typical narratives and political divides through demonstrating that white people are also victims of the same oppressive system, even though it likely hurts black people more. The key is that inconsistent law enforcement leads to over policing in black communities while enabling white perpetrators of violent crimes which in turn leads to additional white victims due to failed enforcement. If racial justice were framed in this way, then it would likely avoid the zero sum game that often comes about when discussing racial justice leading to the divide between ALM and BLM.

Here is my story.

I come from a white family that was full of criminal activity. My father had children by multiple women and fled the State to avoid paying child support. He ended up owing 300,000 dollars on child support, but the enforcement failed despite my mother's best efforts. My father was also involved in gangs, had a lengthy criminal record, and was responsible for drug and sex trafficking. Meanwhile, my stepfather was physically abusive. He would beat my mother and destroy the house, creating an environment of constant fear. In the case of my father, he got away with his crimes by using the money from drug deals while jumping from job to job to avoid child support taxes. Meanwhile, my mother tried calling the police on my stepfather for domestic violence multiple times, but the police dismissed her simply based on my stepfather's denial. The nightmare I lived in should have ended with the police taking both my father's and my stepfather's case seriously. Instead, they failed to aggressively pursue these cases, and they likely would have taken these criminal charges much more seriously had my father and stepfather been black instead of white. Therefore, when white perpetrators are allowed to walk free, it creates a worse society for everybody, not just blacks.

Here are some statistics that highlight the inconsistent law enforcement.

Black women are over 4 times more likely to face felony charges than white men in domestic violence cases. 84.6% of black females ended up being arrested on felony charges in domestic violence cases whereas only 19.5% of white males faced comparable charges. This suggests that my father and stepfather likely received far more lenient treatment from law enforcement because of their whiteness, which allowed them to continue hurting the family. Arrest rates were also three times higher for black men compared to white men in domestic violence cases.

This demonstrates that black communities are often over policed while white communities face police who under respond to white perpetrators who would be arrested if they were black. By applying these inconsistent law enforcement standards, it creates an environment that is harmful to all races due to white perpetrators walking free while the police spend excessive resources focusing on black communities.

The pattern continues in cases like my father's. Gang prosecution disproportionately focuses on black communities, which thus enabled my father's operations. For example, from 2010 through 2017, everyone arrested under Mississippi's gang law was black even though half of verified gang members in the state were white. The pattern continues in other states such as Oregon with 64% of gang related arrests in Portland were black people even though blacks only made up 6 percent of the population. White supremacist gangs who were present were far less likely to be prosecuted, again creating a dangerous community for everyone by enabling white perpetrators.

There is even inconsistent enforcement in child support due to race. black families are 111 percent more likely than white families to receive a sanction in the TANF system which includes child support. However, the enforcement targets poor black families who cannot afford to pay anyway, destabilizing the families further due to pursuing these cases more aggressively compared to white families. Meanwhile, my father who had children by multiple women and abandoned them both to end up owing 300,000 dollars faced very lenient treatment by comparison. Had my father been black he would have faced harsher treatment for less. Due to white perpetrators being treated more leniently, it created a more dangerous environment which ultimately produced more white victims as well black victims.

In conclusion, I believe that this framing of racial justice is crucial for breaking through the typical racial and political divides. At the end of the day, systemic racism hurts everybody due to over policing black communities while enabling white perpetrators such as in the case of my family. I think this message might be effective for creating a common cause for all races rather than an artificial divide that pits whites and against black unnecessarily.

A few policies that might help would be racial bias training to protect all families equally, consistent standards for arrest in domestic violence cases rather than arbitrary decisions from incompetent officers, victim compensation in the event of a non-custodial parent's arrest for child support, and possibly performance metrics based on consistent enforcement rather than just arrest numbers. There are probably many other reforms that would be needed, but this is an issue of equal protection and consistent law and order in addition to an issue of racial justice.

[Hardkill]

That’s very true, OP.

It ironically has been sorely misunderstood and/or in acknowledged by most people in the world since the dawn of mankind.

Sadly, most people in the world haven’t ever been ready to believe that.

Hence, improving the material needs of the general population of any society in a fair and sustainable manner is a major factor for getting through to people about this.

Edited August 15 by Hardkill

[trenton]

I have discovered more ways in which systemic racism can ultimately harm white people.

In this example, it happened in school. Sometimes there are black students who are struggling academically. This can be due to many factors as is the case with other demographics like children with disabilities, English learners, and children from poor families. Oftentimes these students might have a victim complex and a sense of learned helplessness, such as in the case of black students who might feel like they are not in control of their lives due to systemic racism. They might come to see white students as privileged and as having unfair advantages they didn't earn.

In my case, this factor contributed to bullying. I was bullied by three black kids viciously. They would punch me in the face and call me things like a "stupid white fa*****." These kinds of statements are revealing because those black kids who were also struggling academically were likely making assumptions about my privilege as if they were responsible for my academic success.

I noticed this pattern in other black students who were struggling in school. They might make Freudian slips like "This white boy!" revealing that they likely internalized a victim narrative about racial injustice, leading to assumptions about privilege. This victim complex seems to be another factor that both undermines academic performance and ultimately contributes to bullying should more successful white students face assumptions about their background and privilege like I did.

There are ways to combat this issue, but it needs to be framed carefully because I am describing a politically unpopular truth that might make get called racist by describing the victim complex in some black students. This issue will need to be framed in a more inclusive way without singling out one particular demographic. That is why I mentioned the other demographics that disproportionately struggle academically. They too often feel like the system is rigged against them. This demoralizes them and it makes them feel like there is no point in trying anyway. It might also be a way to protect their self esteem when they fail by blaming things outside of themselves. Tragically this kind of response to academic failure can spiral into drop outs and ultimately criminal activity because these groups might come to feel like they are outsiders and they never had any real chance of success to begin with within the rigged system.

In my case I was hurt when this victim complex made me a target for bullying. However, I am not using this to condemn these demographics in general. My goal is ultimately to contribute to an educational environment which helps all students to succeed regardless of their specific background by giving more targeted help combined with these psychological insights rather than generic advice. Once again, the outcomes ultimately contribute to a worse society for everybody, not just the immediate victims of systemic oppression.

[carterfelder]

Doesn't "systemic racism" just mean negative social pressure? The successful black folks I grew up with were raised by parents who encouraged them to do well in school. The unsuccessful ones were the kind of adolescents who threw cigarettes at the school bus, refusing to get on, as if to say, "y'all don't understand me, I'm skipping school because my parents don't care, and my friends would tease me if I did."

Don't get on me about being racist. I had a Ghanaian-American girlfriend all through middle and high school, and the only person I cared to sit next to during elementary school lunch was an ostracized black boy with a big heart and a passion for poetry. He was teased for having a stutter, and being "slow."

[Elliott]

I like how Republicans are so supportive of funding more police in black communities but not schools or basic infrastructure.<---- systemic racism hurts everyone.

Edited August 16 by Elliott

[carterfelder]

I like how many Democratic voters ignore the fact that black kids struggle with education because of an unstable home life (struggling single mothers, for example) and social connections that don’t encourage doing well in school. <———— “Systemic racism” is a victimhood mindset that only hurts those who choose to identify with it.

[Elliott]

Wait, the people you think don't go to school, know about systemic racism? Wild.

Who would want to go to a school of 40 kids per class or 1,000 per school while the suburbs have 25 and 250.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16 by Elliott

[Basman]

1 hour ago, Elliott said:

I like how Republicans are so supportive of funding more police in black communities but not schools or basic infrastructure.<---- systemic racism hurts everyone.

One is way easier than the other. Changing how education is funded is no small feat which most politicians don't want to touch.

Most of the issues with Afro-Americans is just poor people issues which require significant changes to solve. I find race to be largely a distraction and I hate how trigger happy people are with racism label. The solutions for Americas social issues are universal. Not racial. 

[trenton]

2 hours ago, carterfelder said:

Don't get on me about being racist. I had a Ghanaian-American girlfriend all through middle and high school, and the only person I cared to sit next to during elementary school lunch was an ostracized black boy with a big heart and a passion for poetry. He was teased for having a stutter, and being "slow."

I don't think you are being racist. I just want to warn you that you appear to be making the proximity defense argument. If you attempt to make this argument, then the counter argument is that somebody could still be racist while having friends of other races. If you are being accused of being racist, then this is not a good defense.

To be honest, I'm not sure what convincing argument I could make that I am not racist. All kinds of arguments could be framed as me being defensive or in denial of some kind of unconscious bias, which might create an unfalsifiable position that I am racist. I don't think it is possible to prove that you are not racist regardless of any argument you make.

It appears that the best defense against such accusations are through your actions of treating everyone fairly and equally. However, you might get called racist anyway if your political views do not align with what some lefties might want to hear. That said, maybe you could more accurately call someone racist or not racist based on how they act in everyday life, kind of like how you are trying to describe with the proximity argument. There might be a difference between "you are racist" vs. "you believe things that serve to perpetuate racial injustice."

[carterfelder]

I don't care about being called anything, it's just fun to pretend I'm going to be criticized for being honest about my observations and relations with black folks growing up in public schools. 

[Elliott]

49 minutes ago, Basman said:

One is way easier than the other. Changing how education is funded is no small feat which most politicians don't want to touch.

Most of the issues with Afro-Americans is just poor people issues which require significant changes to solve. I find race to be largely a distraction and I hate how trigger happy people are with racism label. The solutions for Americas social issues are universal. Not racial. 

Show me a white guy wrongfully arrested 60 times at his work. It's apparently a "universal" problem? 10 times? 3 Times?

No, Republicans ATTACK poor communities, it's continuous cuts. It's not "harder" to stop doing something than it is to do something like billions they just passed for the Trump force to invade minority communities.

The solutions being universal does not discredit the idea of systemic racism. Universal would mean equalizing everything.

 

 

https://www.aclu.org/cases/alexander-v-south-carolina-state-conference-of-the-naacp

Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP ...

In 2022, 

South Carolina unlawfully assigned voters to congressional districts based on their race and intentionally discriminated against Black voters

Edited August 16 by Elliott

[carterfelder]

To expect cops to be reasonable in a highly crime-ridden area is silly. Most of the time racism is just prejudice, and everyone is prejudiced in some way because racial patterns are real and as social humans we are programmed to judge others by looks in some sort of way before we dissolve those judgments through connection, time and trust.

[Basman]

1 hour ago, Elliott said:

No, Republicans ATTACK poor communities, it's continuous cuts. 

Conservative do budget cuts all the time. Of course, the political party for small government is going to negatively effect the poor.

The state of racism is only improving in America. It's already improved tremendously in a matter of decades. The real progress is in economic populist policy.

[Basman]

I have an instinctual aversion and disgust for alarmist rhetoric. It is almost always a manipulation tactic or highly exaggeratory for political reasons. 

[Elliott]

2 hours ago, Basman said:

Conservative do budget cuts all the time. Of course, the political party for small government is going to negatively effect the poor.

They don't cut the budget, Republicans spend equally or more, this time billions specifically to harm minorities overtly.

 

Quote

The state of racism is only improving in America. It's already improved tremendously in a matter of decades.

Definitely. But you imply it's a non serious issue.

Quote

The real progress is in economic populist policy.

No, it's in funding schools and infrastructure in poor communities.

Edited August 17 by Elliott

[Jacob Morres]

14 hours ago, carterfelder said:

Don't get on me about being racist. I had a Ghanaian-American girlfriend all through middle and high school, and the only person I cared to sit next to during elementary school lunch was an ostracized black boy with a big heart and a passion for poetry. He was teased for having a stutter, and being "slow."

I have a black friend

Edited August 17 by Jacob Morres

[Basman]

19 hours ago, Elliott said:

They don't cut the budget, Republicans spend equally or more, this time billions specifically to harm minorities overtly.

The point is that they don't spend it on public goods. That is not unique to American conservatives.

19 hours ago, Elliott said:

Definitely. But you imply it's a non serious issue.

I believe the issue is way overstated. Focus should be on addressing basic policy of how public goods are funded and regulating the excesses of capitalism, etc. That is how you improve the situation for poor people.

19 hours ago, Elliott said:

No, it's in funding schools and infrastructure in poor communities.

They are the same.

[Schizophonia]

White gang are much rarer which is normal because white people have on average a better social status.

 

Edited August 17 by Schizophonia

[Elliott]

6 hours ago, Basman said:

 

I believe the issue is way overstated. Focus should be on addressing basic policy of how public goods are funded and regulating the excesses of capitalism, etc. That is how you improve the situation for poor people.

No one is screaming about racism, or painting a hopeless picture for minorities in the u.s.. The O.P. is a thoughtful observation, what is over-blown about it? Your profile says Denmark, are you very familiar with U.S. culture?

Quote

They are the same.

Not in America, populist policy has no care for the poor, at all.

Edited August 18 by Elliott

[Basman]

On 18/08/2025 at 4:29 AM, Elliott said:

No one is screaming about racism, or painting a hopeless picture for minorities in the u.s.. The O.P. is a thoughtful observation, what is over-blown about it? Your profile says Denmark, are you very familiar with U.S. culture?

Fair point. I think I have an overall issue with the tribalistic angle.

On 18/08/2025 at 4:29 AM, Elliott said:

Not in America, populist policy has no care for the poor, at all.

You have something else in mind then I what I meant. By economist populism, I mean policy that raise the living standards for the average person by better management of resources.