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Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
It seems like a lifetime ago that Ta’Nehisi Coates was making his case for reparations, Ibrahim X. Kendi was teaching America how to be anti racist and a group of women from the West Coast launched a hashtag that for a time started a movement in Black Lives Matter. This was the impetus of the racial reckoning that Kendi and others called a 3rd Reconstruction for Black Americans.
In 2014, Coates' essay in The Atlantic reignited a more serious conversation around reparations for African Americans, sparking a broader dialogue on the idea of systemic racism, historical injustices of redlining in housing and the need for meaningful change. That change would have to be redressed financially, because in capitalism, we can only solve the crisis of capitalism with more capitalism.
This moment is preceded with the early rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. The movement brought issues of police brutality and racial inequality and in some cases mass incarceration to the forefront of public consciousness, leading to widespread protests and calls for justice.
Over the next several years, the Black political vision became increasingly centered on identity politics, emphasizing the importance of representation and recognition in addressing racial disparities. This focus, however, gradually evolved, as it always does, into a form of patronage politics, where symbolic victories often took precedence over substantive policy changes. Corporate and philanthropic foundations played a significant role in shaping the agenda, funding initiatives that prioritized diversity and inclusion over federally backed plans to tackle deeper systemic issues.
By the time of the George Floyd uprisings in 2020, it seemed as though a transformative moment had arrived. The protests were unprecedented in their scale and intensity, with millions demanding an end to police violence and systemic racism. Yet, despite the outpouring of activism and foundation money and the apparent momentum for change, the underlying structures of power remained largely unchallenged.
Fast forward to today, and we are witnessing a troubling return to "tough on crime" policies reminiscent of the 1990s. Fear of crime and visible homelessness have fueled public anxiety, prompting political leaders in major metropolitan cities like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles to revert to strategies that prioritize law and order over social justice. This shift highlights the limitations of a decade-long racial reckoning that, while significant, ultimately fell short of achieving the transformative change many had hoped for.
As we examine this period, we must ask ourselves: What were the successes and failures of this era of racial reckoning? How did identity politics shape the movement, and what role did foundations play in guiding its direction? Most importantly, how can we learn from this history to build a more effective and lasting movement for racial justice in the future?
Join us as we delve into these questions and more, exploring the complex legacy of the past decade's racial reckoning and its implications for the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in America.
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