Racism is an age-old problem. The police killings of unarmed African Americans be it George Floyd in Minneapolis, Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, or the unapologetic slaying of innocent Black parishioners at a church in Charleston, are just modern ramifications of a deep-rooted issue. Racial bias and Black inferiority have existed for nearly two-and-half centuries. ‘Race’ has been at the centre of everything – a major categorizing factor.

Our knowledge of history conditions our thoughts and opinions and the way we respond to the situations around us. We will never be able to fully comprehend or explain the unjust deaths of dozens of African Americans unless we examine American history.

The Black Suppression-White Supremacy has its origin in the trading of African citizens as slaves by British colonizers. African Americans comprise an estimated 13% of the U.S. population and most of them are descendants of former slaves. Black slavery depicted in history textbooks is a highly simplified, and contrived version of reality.

Slavery, as it existed, was a barbaric social practice, that gave a segment of society ownership over another usually a minority group. Here the Whites owned the Blacks, body and mind. They asserted the purity of their race, claiming to be more ‘American’ than the Blacks. Hence, their lives were considered more valuable than the inferior ethnic community.

The Africans were forced into submission and indentured servitude, with most being kidnapped, beaten or raped. Treated less than humans, they were often catalogued as commodities with farm equipment and cattle. For generations, the Black communities worked uncompensated for their labour and deprived of legal rights. They doubled up as human collaterals. Debts were settled by an exchange of slaves. African slaves were a crucial part of American economy; they helped further the cause of the American capitalism to a great extent. They worked on cash-intensive plantations such as cotton, rice and tobacco putting money into the pockets of many except their own.  

The tireless efforts of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War culminating in the Declaration of Independence brought in positive changes for the African Americans such as the abolishment of slavery, the right to vote and equal protection before the law. The 13^th Amendment to the U.S Constitution in 1865 did away with slavery, in the traditional sense of the term, but the African Americans have never been beneficiaries of the privileges afforded to the Whites. Even the ones that were ‘free’, those who had purchased their freedom or had been freed by their owners, inherited a circumscribed life.

The so-called “freedom” granted by the Declaration of Independence was short-lived with White owners regaining control of slaves through coercion, terror, and deprivation. The Blacks were soon relegated to the background at all levels of society. In the confederate states, they were denied the right to vote under the pretext of failing to fulfil several clauses. African Americans were denied positions of power and authority in the administrative setup. The unfair farming policies victimized the Blacks leaving them in debt at the end of every harvest season.

Fast forward to the 50s and 60s, discrimination against the Blacks took on new forms. This included the inability to secure a housing loan despite checking all the eligibility criteria. Areas had been demarcated as specifically “Black inhabited areas” which included redrawing map boundaries. Comparing the prices of real estates, properties in white neighbourhoods appreciated at a higher rate than those in predominantly Black locales. While there has been a move towards integrated schools, hardcore racists advocate segregation in schools and neighbourhoods. Segregationists also strongly oppose the mingling of races.

The situation may have changed a bit post-1960s, with a small number of African Americans admitted to high-ranking positions. The presidential election of Barack Obama for two successive terms also instilled hope, with people expecting changes in the social equation. But there is no denying that the presence of a Black family in the White House didn’t go down well with some White supremacists.

Unlike what many people believe, the past is definitely not the past. Racial discrimination does exist and its impacts have trickled down generations. And its tremors can be felt even today.