Thread by @michaelharriot

I'm not an expert so maybe we should ask some experts whether or not America is a racist country

A thread:

https://twitter.com/Raymondorigins/status/1387967950259294211

You know who might know? The Supreme Court. If only they had written something like:

"But it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted [the Declaration of Independence]"...

"they knew that it would not in any part of the civilized world be supposed to embrace the negro race...The unhappy black race were separated from the white by indelible marks, and laws long before established, and were never thought of or spoken of except as property,"

That's not fair, though. Maybe we should ask Jefferson, the no. 1 stunner of Founders.

Good news! He actually wrote: "blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind.”

But that was in the beginning. What about the dude who freed the slaves. I'm sure the great Emancipator wasn't like that.

I'mma just put this right here:

But that was a long time ago. And Lincoln was just the president, anyway. It's not like he decided what was Constitutional. He couldn't influence the Supreme Court.

Eisenhower: "Hold my beer."

Nixon was like: No, hold mine:

But those are just people it's not like someone found something like insurers charging statistically significantly higher premiums in predominantly minority zip codes, on average, than in similarly risky white zip codes.

Except someone found that.

propublica.org/article/minori…

Or, you know how we cite poverty when we talk about stuff like poll closings in Black neighborhoods or people who can't make it to the DMV to get a license?

Sometimes it ain't poverty. Just racism

nationalfairhousing.org/2018/01/11/new…

They found that 62.5% of the time, Non-White applicants who were MORE QUALIFIED than whites received higher rates

75% of the time, whites were offered more financing options

On average, Non-Whites would've paid $2,662.56 more over the life of the loan than LESS QUALIFIED whites

But you don't need studies. You can look at how EVERY MAJOR BANK IN AMERICA has settled loan discrimination lawsuits:

businessinsider.com/bank-of-americ…

And its always the same plot: Qualified non-white borrowers are preyed upon, the bank knows it and says: "Aight, you caught us. How much we gotta pay?" And no one goes to prison

justice.gov/opa/pr/justice…

And they always pay LESS than they profited off of their predatory lending WTF is $53 Million to JP Morgan Chase?
justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/m…

Now, this is different from the OFFICIAL racist policies of the US government that kept Black people from owning homes (which is, by the way, the #1 determinant of wealth in the US)>

That was redlining.

But redlining is different from cities outlawing Black people in certain neighborhoods. Those were covenants

Covenants were different from States taking Black taxpayers' money and using it to educate white children. For instance, SC didn't have a state university for Black people until the FEDERAL government did it

Here's the SC Constitution:

Notice that the funds for the white schools come from the state school fund. The Black college is funded BY CONGRESS. Liquor taxes and direct taxes were handled the same way.

This was outright theft by racism.

But America wasn't founded on racism though.

But those race-neutral folks love to cite poverty.

They're kinda right though. The poverty was manufactured by racism.

It's not always the politicians. For instance, white people would rather buy a home in a WORSE white neighborhood than live around Black people.

But the devaluation of Black real estate isn't just due to white people's averion to Black neighborhoods. Real Estate Appraisers often lower the value of Black homes.

If you're Black & trying to sell your house, you have to remove anything that identifies it as a Black home

Seriously, this is a thing.

And it works. I've tried it

*Pro-tip: Go to a stock photo site, print off random pics of white families, & frame them. It's fun. I created a whole storyline. My white son plays soccer and my white daughter plays violin.

nytimes.com/2020/08/25/rea…

Also, go to a school in a white neighborhood and buy one of those those "My kid did something mediocre at Willow Lake Elementary" bumper stickers.

Why?

Cops pull over Black drivers more often in the daytime. At night, they profile cars.

news.stanford.edu/2020/05/05/vei…

What was I talking about? I can't remember.

Anyway, what would you call a country with racist laws made by racist lawmakers, founded by racist founders who still perpetuate racism in financial institutions, politics and even when you're just driving down the street?

STILL.

I'm sure there's a term for this.

But I'm bad with words.