The vexing complexity of racist politics

Shelley Walia

Professor Emeritus, Department of English, Panjab University

Derek Chauvin, a former American police officer, was recently convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. Though the verdict received an earsplitting response that resounded across the world, this is not the end of long-ingrained racism in America, even as Chauvin has now sought a new trial.

The shooting of 21-year-old Daunte Wright in the same week as the trial has made many skeptical of any radical change in the mindset of the overzealous police force that is habitual of using pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets at the smallest of provocations. Attacks on mediapersons are common. Chicago recently saw the shooting of Laquan McDonald in the back and the video conveniently disappeared; in North Charleston, we saw on video a police officer shoot Walter Scott in the back, and a Taser, a non-lethal electroshock weapon, dropped near his body to imply theft. All cases ended in a mistrial.

Much needs to be done before the deeply ingrained racist mindset can be removed. Racism in America runs deep. We saw the volatile environment created by Donald Trump in the last few years, building his entire campaign on divisiveness, decrying diversity and lamenting that the white people and their culture have been overrun by other races. The voluble diehard had successfully tapped into this seething racial hatred, turning his regime into a flagrantly elitist drive to re-establish American greatness to where and how it was when the whites were dominant, and the colour of one’s skin determined one's status in life. He has given voice to racism that has been unapologetically felt, but not explicitly expressed.

Such an ideology of racial divide brings the example of the Nazi race law being modeled on the nature and dimension of the ugly race laws and the research on eugenics in America. The era of the Jim Crow laws in the US provided the basis of the systemic anti-Semitism in Germany, resounding in the infamous Nuremberg Laws, the foremost anti-Jewish legislation, particularly the Citizenship Law and the Blood Law.

The inspirations behind such discriminatory legislation were race-based US second-class citizenship and anti-miscegenation, as well as immigration laws. In particular, certain aspects of the US race law struck Nazi observers as alluring, especially the exceptional US practice of criminalising interracial marriage which was the genesis of the Blood Law. Legally enforced race legislation and jurisprudence was the lesson that the Germans picked up from the US.

The concern to draw attention to this aspect of Nazism is to throw light on the character of America as a democracy with deep-seated racist undertones. It must not be forgotten that US racism has found a reflection in discriminatory practices across the world: in Europe, Africa, Asia and other multiracial societies which are witness to ethnic and religious strife. In fact, in many European countries, racial persecution predated American racial jurisprudence.

It is a fact that on September 23, 1935, a delegation of 45 Nazi lawyers set sail to the US in luxury oceanliner SS Europa. This would be a study trip that would give a deeper understanding of the process of implementation of the anti-Jewish state policy that had taken more than three years for its successful enactment. Unfortunately for the voyagers, their arrival in New York was met by Jewish demonstrators who regarded the rise of the Nazi party, in the words of Louis Brodsky, the Manhattan Magistrate, as “an atavistic throwback to pre-medieval, if not barbaric, social and political conditions,” (New York Times, September 7, 1935).

Indeed, white supremacy in the US was no less than Nazism. Understandably, it became a predominant link to worldwide racism since the times of Columbus in the 15th century. Subtle ironies glare us in the face with countries deceitfully breeding racism under the camouflage of equity, freedom and justice. For instance, the anti-slavery symbolism of the Statue of Liberty is often obfuscated and disregarded as an integral part of the national monument's history. More than upholding the torch of universal freedom is the shattered chain under the feet of Lady Liberty greeting millions of exiles and immigrants with hope and opportunity for a better life in America. It rouses the desire for universal freedom. The statue was the idea of Edouard de Laboulayae, French expert on the US Constitution and chairperson of the French Anti-Slavery Society. The Thirteenth Amendment, for which credit goes to him, took up the question of ending slavery in the US and found reaffirmation in the now famous lines, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” from a poem by Emma Lazarus, engraved on the plaque suspended on the pedestal of the statue.

Sadly, the significance of the statue stands forgotten in the killing of George Floyd, but resurrected in the anti-racist storm that overwhelmed the globe recently. Democracy stands blemished the world over. Similar reactions in South Asia, Turkey, Myanmar and Hong Kong expose deep injustice and disparity under an authoritarian system. For instance, global public perceptions emphasise the infringement of human rights in India as well as the cause of much of the agitation against the right-wing bigotry of the leadership. India’s or America’s standing in the area of human rights is at its lowest.

Due to undying racism and the widespread practice of neo-liberalism, inequality is apparent in the areas of education, property, economy, job opportunities, policing, justice, and media. The recent assault on liberal values has become integral to American politics. Institutions of justice have been left battered by brute majoritarianism.

It is hoped that the democratic rule of law would return in Joe Biden's tenure. There is some glimmer of hope in the Chauvin verdict, but only if the practice of separating racism from democracy becomes the true commitment to equality.

Though liberal-minded leaders have exhorted the world to acknowledge a life of equality and freedom for all, the question of civil rights remains a niggling complexity of race matters.

The meaning of freedom calls for an investigation of the legacy of racism that haunts humanity today. And if Martin Luther King, Jr were alive today, he would have demanded not militarism but equality and justice, including free healthcare, for all. He would have demanded, what Howard Zinn says, “Not the puny reforms but fundamental changes” to usher in a secure and decent way of life for all.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.