I read an article in the New York Times Magazine online edition, titled, “America’s enduring caste system.” It needs to be read by everyone of every skin color, race or creed. It details how our country continues to perpetrate these awful systems.
America is like an old house, it says, one we inherited with all that is wrong with it, so it is now our responsibility to fix what is bad. Even if you/your family “never did it,” just because we are here now means we fix it. That means we recognize white privilege in all its horror, its commonplaceness. It means we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with humans who have skin colored other than white. It means we shout out, “Stop! That’s wrong! No more!” when we see injustices. It means making the police accountable. It means not thinking when we see one or more Black men, that they are out to do something wrong. It means treating all people of color the exact way white-skins are treated. We are also a nation of caste-ism, dominant to untouchable.
Please, find and read this article. It’s a bit long, but worth it. See how we need to repair our house, how we need to recognize that all humans are 99.9% the same. There should never be a dominant skin color or have everyone in a fixed place in our nation. Please, be the change for good we desperately need.
Patti Lisenbee
Anchorage
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