Eradicating Societal Racism
[I originally wrote this as a Response to “Yes, All White People Are Racist” by Marley K. here in Medium.]
There are two levels of racism: personal and societal. In the U.S. (and in other nations) all white people benefit from societal racism.
Personal racism can only be eradicated one person at a time. To eradicate societal racism we have too re-think justice.
In the U.S. justice is predicated on Rights, especially the Right of liberty. Rights are inherently self-centered. A notion of ‘justice’ that promotes being self-centered, which was generated by people in racially (and otherwise) privileged positions, has perpetuated racial (and other) privileging throughout our society.
We need to recognize that justice is mutual respect (of a basic kind — taking one another into account). A requirement of mutual respect follows from a belief in equality: “Equality Is All We Need” (here in Medium).
Mutual respect already informs the theory of democracy. A society governed by mutual respect would maximize the liberty that co-existing people can share as a practical matter.
Mutual respect can be applied to the economy, via a “democratically distributed income,” with astonishing results for society: “For Crying Out Loud, ACCEPT That A SOLUTION Actually EXISTS” (a “3 min read” — including options for further reading — also here in Medium).