Color-Blindness, Racial Privilege, and the American Dream
St. Paul spoke declared that in Christ there was
neither Jew nor Greek, Slave or Free, Male or Female (Gal. 3:28). Baptism, he suggested, removed these barriers
that divide society religiously, economically, and with regard to gender. While this is true is principle, we’ve still
not reached the point in the church where we can say that all divisions have
been removed. We could operate as if
these divisions didn’t exist – be blind to them – but that wouldn’t make them
go away. It would be better to instead
recognize the problems and deal with them.
I
make this statement regarding the wisdom of Paul’s word to the Galatians as
preface to remarks I want to make about the recent debate over Section 5 of theVoting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act
made it illegal to prevent citizens from voting and from creating barriers to
true representation. Thus, with Section
5, in certain parts of the country, which have historically been known to
discriminate, changes to voting laws or redistricting plans must be reviewed by
the Justice Department. It has been
argued that times have changed since the 1960s, and thus this burdensome
process is no longer needed. At this
point I’m not equipped to argue that point.
In fact, I recognize that parts of the country not covered have had
egregious policies. Perhaps all voting
laws should be reviewed by the Justice Department, but that’s not my point.
I
want to address two statements made by key Justices of the Supreme Court. First, Chief Justice John Roberts advocates
for a color-blind approach. In this way
of thinking laws that seek to address injustice through affirmative action in
college admissions, job promotion, or voting policies are unnecessary. Just let the most qualified person receive
admission, the job, and when it comes to voting, simply trust local officials
to do the right thing. And quite often,
advocates of this approach turn to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech”
and suggest that King envisioned a color-blind world. Now, I don’t doubt that Dr. King meant it
when he said that he dreamed of a day when we would be judged by the content of
our character rather than the color of our skin, but I’m not sure Dr. King
would agree that we’ve reached that point.
Yes, we’ve elected an African American President, but a considerable
amount of anti-Obama animus is racially tinged.
Chief Justice Roberts may have the best of intentions, but I don’t think
it carries true realism. It assumes too
much of humanity, that we can – at this point in our lives – see the world in
such a way.
The
Roberts vision is problematic in its unrealistic vision of humanity – to put it
in theological terms; it presumes a level sinlessness that we’ve yet to
achieve. In the mean time ignoring the
reality of race and gender won’t get us to the place we desire to be.
More
troubling are the statements made by Justice Antonin Scalia, who suggests that
the Voting Rights Act itself is simply the preservation of “Racial Privilege.” That is, it privileges People of Color over
White People. He suggests that Congress
is ill-equipped to deal with such things and thus the Courts must act. Here is the great Originalist who lambastes “Judicial
Activism” while at the same time taking an extremely activist position,
suggesting that the Court should strike down a law that has been reenacted by
Congress several times and signed by Presidents of both parties. While I find his Judicial Activism ironic,
his vision of racial privilege is in my mind dangerous. He’s essentially calling into question the
need to rectify the hideousness of barriers that were put in place to keep
African Americans and other minorities from achieving true representation in
the political sphere. Those who have had
“racial privilege” since the beginning of this nation have been white folks
like me. In the last election Section 5
was used effectively to block attempts to hinder voting in predominantly
minority communities. Abandoning the
Voting Rights Act will not put a stop to “Racial Privilege.” No, it will help continue the unchecked
hegemony of White Privilege.
Until
such time as we’ve reached true sinlessness, there will be need for checks and
balances like the Voting Rights Act against concentrating the political power
in the hands of a few or of one group.
My hope is that the Voting Rights Act stands, because it is a reminder
that without checks and balances our democracy will become a farce once again.
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