To be fair, Hyperbole, like riots, are the language of the unheard. I will admit that, Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics go down a lot better with some smooth talking sugar: But the medicine is still bad. Statistics and The Data have been repeatedly presented, (quite well, but incorrectly), as conclusory where that can never be the case. First to equivocate or at least correlate good old fashioned murder with police murder, then, to justify increased black police encounters which in turn leads to more bad outcomes for black people which is explained by broken homes and falsely correlated supposed lack of values. Some argued that was as cultural failing. I agree there is a cultural failing; but it’s not the culture you are thinking of.

Now, I will not dispute that single parenting is tough and it is more prevalent in the black community particularly regarding males. And this representative single black parent must be frequently absent from supervisory duties while working often multiple jobs to ensure the basic needs of the child are covered. And this representative black child is growing up in a generational family home, which is good, but this home is not in a properly zoned residential area, the government prohibited that when it was built. So this home is in a neighborhood hemmed in by heavy polluting industry, and this home is surrounded by low-rent businesses such as liquor stores, pawn shops, payday lenders, dive clubs because the zoning allows it, unlike the protected suburbs. Suburbs that legally prohibited this representative family from ownership well into the 1970’s. After that the prohibitions were economic. The family home is in a bad neighborhood and not worth much, not enough to leverage a move to a safer suburb anyway. And why is the neighborhood bad? Because it was intentionally created that way by the government, and I use the term inclusively. A government that, regardless of Party, has always promoted white supremacy in some degree. That is the rotten culture that pervades America.

So what does that have to do with broken black families being more susceptible to bad outcomes? Simply this: Throughout our American History, black males have subjugated and separated, and worse. Ending the Institution of Slavery was great, but the incomplete follow though and the abrupt ending of Reconstruction following the unique election of Rutherford B. Hayes was disastrous. Facially discriminatory laws flourished as did open hostility and violence to the newly freed, but not yet equal citizens. The domestic terrorist organization, the KKK, was birthed and swelled, counting government officials including Supreme Court Justices, Senators (in our lifetime) and at least one President. Jim Crow and Segregation followed until the positive gains of the 1960’s.

Slavery intentionally broke apart families. That practice was continued with the Anti-Negro Statutes, then Jim Crow. For generations black families were destroyed by facially discriminatory laws that did not treat white males and white families the same way. This disparate treatment in our past continues to pay the devil’s dividend today as multi-generational black broken families struggle in government created ghettos while whites families were allowed to flee to protected suburbs. That was by design. One in Three black males will spend time in prison. The New Jim Crow and the school to prison pipeline, prison now being a profitable business venture, is the payoff for Centuries of institutional racism by the government.

The disparate treatment by American government of black people literally touches every facet of life. It affects their environment, their families, their health, their ability to hold and pass generational wealth, which in turn affects their educational and earning opportunities, and perpetuates and continues. I’m not saying it is impossible for a black person to excel and succeed in America, but generally, it is a lot harder

Whether you want to believe it or not, white supremacy is baked into the American Experience. It simply is. As individuals, most people are not racist, and I feel comfortable saying no one participating in this conversation likely is. As individuals we do not commit overt racists acts, make overt or covert comments. In fact we go out of our way to demonstrate equality. But individual acts are not enough. We must all recognize the systemic effects of the government that was holding a very large and racist thumb on the scale. The Institution itself is not equal. At least, not yet.

If you made it this far, you’re a glutton for punishment. Have a great day.