It is shown on a daily basis in Minneapolis that 'race prejudice plus authority/power' is the primary structure in ALL matters of race in our community. One need only look at study after study, year after year, showing that Minneapolis has high rates of segregated poverty, high rates of incarceration for people of color, high rates of racial profiling, high rates of real estate fraud against people of color, high rates of job discrimination against people of color.
The most recent study I've seen is a survey by the Mpls. YWCA of local non-profit boards of directors , showing once again the vast disparities of who makes the rules , enforces the rules, and chenges the rules whenever it suits them.
http://www.ywcampls.org/documents/FINALREPORT_005.pdf
Last, but certainly not least, there is the reaction of a vast majority of white people to any inference of racism. "I'm not racist, and this isn't racism! I don't care what you, who are affected by it, think, perceive or experience! Now shush and let us take care of business..."
Of course it's racism. It always is. It is not the function or duty of white folks to explain to Black folks that they are being silly, over-sensitive, mistaken about their own lives and experiences, or to judge their "leaders".
Denial is easy for us white folks, and especially easy when people of color are demanding a slice of the power pie. Almost 3/4 of MPS students are peoplr of color. One member of the Board of Ed is non-white. 'Nuff said.
And for you dictionary folks:
Main Entry: 1im�pact
Pronunciation: im-'pakt
Function: verb
Etymology: Latin impactus, past participle of impingere to push against -- more at IMPINGE
Date: 1601
transitive senses
1 a : to fix firmly by or as if by packing or wedging b : to press together
2 a : to have an impact on : impinge on b : to strike forcefully; also : to cause to strike forcefully
intransitive senses
1 : to have an impact
2 : to impinge or make contact especially forcefully
- im�pac�tive /im-'pak-tiv/ adjective
- im�pac�tor also im�pact�er /-t&r/ noun
Doesn't quite have the same social science/political feeling that we think of when we talk about "impacted neighborhoods", does it?
Eric Oines North Minneapolis Lind-Bohanon
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall - think of it, always."
~ Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), Agitator
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