PARADIGM SHIFTING IN RACE RELATIONS

[defiant]

Paradigm Shifting In Race Relations
By: Tonia Renee Lee

Racism is on the rise again. Paradigm shifts are necessary! An old paradigm or tradition can stand in the way of much needed change. As the world evolves society must also. Take the United States for example, historically we have faced issues regarding racial issues, tolerance, and acceptance of others. In America, up until the 70's, blatant racism was practiced against Black Americans. Although the chains were no longer there, discrimination was practice institutionally.

With the advent of civil rights legislation, the paradigm shifted in another direction. This time to provide equal rights and equal protection, which should have been provided for in the first place according to the Constitution. At the present time, the paradigm appears to be taking a drastic turn which may invoke a Black Revolution. The paradigm seems to be shifting towards a new era of racism.

While many Blacks took advantage of programs implemented by the government for past wrongs, and acquired higher education and wealth; the rest of America was sleeping. There is a growing resentment among some members of non-Black Americans. Many White Americans feel that success is a birth right rather than an earned right.

It is my hope that these attitudes will one day change. This would require an extreme paradigm shift. This shift is necessary if America is to continue to exist as a world power. It can not preach equality and practice another!

[Thuso]

Hello Tonia,

I agree that there has been a paradigm shift. However it has several subtle shades. We even now have Black advocates for eliminating affirmative action to help level the playing field. Recently, the State of Michigan voters approved a ban on affirmative action. There is a case before the Supreme court that could reverse everything we have fought to achieve in the fight for equal education for our children.

These actions will cause a definite shift in race relations, regardless of the outcomes.
While many Blacks took advantage of programs implemented by the government for past wrongs, and acquired higher education and wealth; the rest of America was sleeping. There is a growing resentment among some members of non-Black Americans. Many White Americans feel that success is a birth right rather than an earned right.

It is my hope that these attitudes will one day change. This would require an extreme paradigm shift. This shift is necessary if America is to continue to exist as a world power. It can not preach equality and practice another! You are correct about the "birth right" attitude of many White Americans. However, "these attitudes will (NOT) one day change." I grew up in the fifties, and I foresee new battle lines forming. We will have to fight all over again to win new battles. These battles won't necessarily take place through marches and protests. We have to use virtual communities like iZania to connect with one another across our geographic communities and share our knowledge to fight the battles with tactics that "take over the local school districts" where our children are being educated to ensure they don't get "left behind."

We will have to get involved and "fight our own battles." We cannot depend on the government to come over the hill like the calvary, or protect our children like the National Guard in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. The battle is different this time. WE HAVE TO WIN IT OURSELVES!

This is not a call to racial separation, but a call to act in OUR SELF-INTERESTS. If we want our children to compete for the best jobs, become astronauts, and Senators, engineers and lawyers, entrepreneurs and heads of industrial enterprises, we cannot hope for someone else to take affirmative actions to GIVE US OUR PLACE AT THE TABLE. The resentment about our limited progress is already being manifested. WE have to close ranks to protect the progress we have made, and formulate battle plans to continue our progress.

It is time to remind everyone once again about the words of Frederick Douglass: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will."

We must prepare ourselves for the next phase of the battle in race relations.

Amandla!

[defiant]

Thuso,
Your views are insightful and correct. In haste, it was my mistake not to mention the Black dynamic at play. While many Blacks are arguing against Affimative Action, many of them benefited from it. As the saying goes: "We are our own worst enemies."
I was born in the 60's. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, I was five years old. The sadness that day with my parents let me know something terrible had occurred. My era saw the ushering in of school integration in the 70's. We seem as you state to be losing ground in what we fought for in this area as well with respect to the "No Child Left Behind Policy."
At the present time, it is my belief that there should be a sense of urgency in the Black community to be proactive versus reactive in the area of race relations. We can not afford to set idle. It is time out for sit ins, songs , and chanting for justice, liberty, and equality. This is our country too! We must stand up and demand what is rightfully ours.
Again, as stated in one of my previous explorations because of the obstacles we are facing, WE MUST CONTINUE!

Yours in the struggle,
tonia renee lee