Opinion: Hide and seek with systemic racism

By JOHN BUTTRICK

Published: 05-28-2023 7:30 AM

John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Rocker in his Concord home: Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.

During a recent discussion about racial justice, one person in the group challenged the idea that systemic racism still exists in the United States. The person explained that he was aware of over fifty “expert” sources reporting that systemic racism is unsubstantiated and therefore doesn’t exist.

I have since Googled it, and indeed there are dozens of books and articles written by individuals claiming their research finds the concept of systemic racism flawed and biased, anecdotal and depending upon misunderstood personal experiences.

On the other hand, there have been numerous studies at universities like Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton reporting various methods of research to reveal evidence of continuing systemic racism in the U.S. It seems to come down to what sources are trusted and what methods have been used to reach the conclusions. Citing an accumulation of unvetted sources does not advance the discussion.

One area of systemic racism that has been studied is the effectiveness of the G.I. Bill education benefit. A study out of Dartmouth College reports, “The amount of research available… is severely limited for the time period after World War II. Although as written, the bill was never a discriminatory piece of legislation, the aid was distributed unequally between races from 1940-1960.”

Black veterans experienced extended delays and denied applications. Banks, colleges, social, and pollical norms resulted in less that 5% of Black veterans receiving loans.

Recently learning about this disparity between Black and white veterans has disturbed me. I had taken it for granted, that all Vietnam-era veterans had access to the G.I. Bill benefit. I was entitled to the benefit. It paid for 40 months of my undergraduate and graduate education. I was able to complete my schooling debt-free. Now I’ve learned that it was white privilege that made it all possible.

It was distressing to learn that my Black colleagues were still unable to access the veterans’ education aid benefit, as I had, even in 1965. It was difficult to believe that systemic racism was still alive. However, at the same time, I also gained a greater appreciation for the feelings and beliefs of that person in our group discussion who had denied the existence of systemic racism. For years, I had never considered that racism was involved with the G.I. Bill.

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I gained some solace to learn that, with the Civil Rights movement and the changing government policy during the Cold War era, the political, financial, and social climate had started to change. Black veterans had become more free to take advantage of the G.I. Bill. Those receiving the education benefit increased from 5% to 40% between 1940 and 1990.

But systemic racism still exists, even though institutions are becoming more inclusive and diverse. Affirmative action, the normalization of college degrees for people in all socioeconomic classes, and the federal funding of state colleges may account for the increase in the percent of Black veterans with some sort of higher education. However, white veterans using G.I. education aid has increased from 20% to 50%, still exceeding the increases among Black veterans.

These reports concerning this G.I. Bill are only one example of the many reports of continuing systemic racism, providing privilege for some and a disadvantage for others. For example, Harvard Pop Center faculty member Sara Bleich and her colleagues have published two studies examining experiences of racial discrimination in the United States. “One study found substantial Black-white disparities in experiences of discrimination in the U.S. spanning multiple domains including health care, employment, and law enforcement.”

The disparities are recognized, partially, in the narratives of individuals experiencing the injustices in these systems. The various systems are a compilation of laws, rules, and rooted attitudes of people that favor some individuals and groups over others. Therefore, it is those systems infected by racism that call for change or modification.

It seems the first step in recognizing systemic racism and its effects is to listen to the experiences of others and learn to honor their trustworthiness. Together, our trust may allow us to directly analyze systems, see the realities, and overcome the injustices. It may, at first, be disturbing to put our beliefs up for scrutiny. But, when we bring systematic racism into the light, it will lose its influence and power. It will no longer be able to hide in familiar systems, like a virus seeking to destroy its host. We shall all benefit from its demise. Beginning to trust one another may even lead to the discovery of a systemic love of neighbor and respect for all human beings.

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