Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020 18:36:02 -0400
From: “John Dykers M.D.”
Subject: racism and slavery -sara kane post 9 Mar.
Your history is correct.
Then you use the word “crimes” a bit loosely. Slaves were bought and sold legally.(Reference Chapter 12 on Reparations in “The Price Of Eggs Is Down” Amazon Kindle and Paperback).
“The evil of (the legal institution of) slavery is so overwhelming that we the people of these United States collectively forgave the evil of war as a mechanism for defending or ridding ourselves of slavery”. Quote from Chapter 11. Simple ownership and especially mistreatment of slaves was awful, and in some jurisdictions some degrees of mistreatment over time became crimes under the law. It was a major unconstitutional crime to seize property at gunpoint without compensation. It was institutional criminal idiocy to fail to pay emancipated slaves reparations of “40 acres and a mule” or its monetary equivalent. This failure “freed” slaves into poverty and unemployment instead of a “respected and legitimate place in society.” Here certainly two wrongs did not make a right.
The “crimes” of Reconstruction and Jim Crow were both sufficiently thinly veiled that I will agree with you on the use of the word. Reconstruction historically was over before you say your family came to this country, but your forebears came anyway and would have lived with much of the evil vestiges of Jim Crow and likely participated in the wrenching joy of the transition to civil rights for all citizens. I am happy that you recognize your privileged status in this society simply by being white. It is healthy to learn from the collective guilt of centuries. I doubt how much self righteous indignation heals wounds and helps change for the better. That path is paved with kindness, love, compassion, and a fuller knowledge for each person’s heart and soul. Economic opportunity can truly help mend our social fabric.
The most meaningful opportunity I have found for us white folks is to ask ourselves, “How would I feel if I had been born black”. Our answer gives us a great opportunity to heal wounds without creating new ones. It is very hard to perfectly mend every ancient injustice without inflicting new injustice. (reference Chapter 7, “Time”.)
john Dykers
2020-03-11