No Systemic Racism?

I woke up a few days ago expecting, almost hoping, that my day would be sufficiently uneventful so as not to aggravate my spirit. Instead, while listening to "The View," I heard Sen. Tim Scott proclaim, "There is no systemic racism in America." He attempted to justify his assertion by using his home state of South Carolina as an example. He mentioned there being a Black police chief. Just one time, he mentioned America having a Black President. Thoughtlessly, or maybe with full thought and consideration, he didn't mention President Obama as being only one president out of forty-six in 247 years.

To be fair to him, he named two or three other Black people as examples for his premise, but he was speaking on "The View" where the hosts knew better. His understanding of systemic racism was somewhere outside the realm of reality and Joy Behar told him so.

It was clear he was prepared for an adversarial response from Whoopi

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Goldberg, and he seemed somewhat surprised that he was confronted by Sunny Hostin. She asked him to define what he believed to be systemic racism. Responding as I've come to expect, Scott gave a solid non-answer to her question, saying, "One of the things I think about, and one of the reasons I'm on this show, is because of the comments that were made, frankly, on this show that the only way for a young African American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule." He went on to say, "That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to

Marc H. Morial

send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is by being the exception."

Scott's otherworldly understanding of systemic racism in American history obviously does not include nearly 250 years of enslavement or the empirical data which caused Republican President Nixon to establish the Federal Affirmative Action Program (E.O. 11478 – Aug. 8, 1969) to correct the ills of an uninterrupted pattern of racial discrimination in the Federal sector.

Scott has obviously ignored the history and patterns of personal Black

Pride Month Marred By Record Number of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills

The prejudice, ignorance, and fear of the present, however, have cast a dark shadow over this year's celebration.

"We are powerful because we have survived, and that is what it is all about- survival and growth." — Audre Lorde

Pride Month should be a time for celebrating love, the freedom to love whom we choose, and triumph over the prejudice, ignorance, and fear of the past.

In the past few years, there has been an astonishing increase in the bills restricting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning people of the community (LGBTQ+). In this legislative session alone, state legislators have introduced a record 491 proposals to undermine and weaken nondiscrimination laws, limiting access to books and performances like drag

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shows, blocking medically-necessary and gender-affirming health care. Nearly half of the bills target our most vulnerable young people, attempting to prevent trans students from participating in school activities like sports, to force teachers to out students, and to censor any inschool discussions of LGBTQ people and issues.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed four bills on May 17 as well as expanded on Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law. This law has restricted sexual orientation and gender identity

The Woke Derangement Syndrome

platform, promising Americans a "war on woke."

discussions in the classroom from kindergarten to third grade. The updated law will expand the prohibited discussion to eighth grade. How will our youth express their authentic selves if it is illegal?

On June 28, 1969, in New York City, police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. Such raids were commonplace, as the expression of LGBTQ identity — cross-dressing, holding hands, kissing, or dancing with someone of the same sex — was illegal. This time, however, instead of complying, the crowd fought

American achievement in post-enslavement America. On one hand, are the "chosen few" — those Blacks whose demeanor, disposition, and/or unique circumstances present them as non-threatening to whites and acceptable for favorable treatment. On the other hand are those I characterize as indomitable — those who have the talent, courage, confidence, and perseverance to challenge any obstacle that confronts them. Either of these personality types achieves because of their exceptionalism. Unlike

WILLIAMS Page 46 back. This spark ignited a fire, which led to five days of rioting to defend LGBTQ rights in America.

History is being reversed. Politicians hoping to ride a wave of hatred and ignorance into higher office are driving the nation backward toward the dark days of shame before Stonewall.

Black, indigenous, and people of color LGBTQ individual experience far more discrimination than their white counterparts. They al-

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been touted as the presidential candidate who offers Trump without the drama, a Trump who can win rather than lose. He was supposedly able to forge a majority by uniting Trump's MAGA base with disaffected Republican suburbanites. In recent weeks, he's rolled out his presidential campaign

Say what? Americans face declining life expectancy — a product of a health care system that is failing despite costing about two times per person what other industrial countries spend. We suffer a debilitating inequality and increasingly pervasive corruption — a product of the big money that distorts our democracy. We face a literally existential threat in catastrophic climate change already costing lives and billions from extreme weather. We lost over 1 million people to a pandemic and ended with a public health system more discredited than when we started. We've made college education and advanced training more and more unaffordable even as they are more and more important. We are threatened by over 12 mass shootings a week, with schools now doing drills on how to escape. We're spending more on our military than the next nine countries combined, and still find ourselves in wars without end and without victory.

These are not, however, what DeSantis thinks ails America. Instead, he plagiarizes Winston Churchill taking on Hitler in World War II, saying: "We will fight the woke in education, we will fight the woke in the corporations, we will fight the woke in the halls of Congress. We will never, ever surrender…"

What is "woke?" Donald Trump complained that half the people who use the term don't know what it means. DeSantis' general coun- sel, Ryan Newman, defined woke as "the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them," adding that DeSantis doesn't believe there are systemic injustices in American society. Really?

Those who were once sleep, are now "woke" because of the pressing issues affecting their lives. For example, people adjusted to watching "Amos and Andy" until they became acquainted with "The

Youth Showcase Talent in ‘Sew ‘N Know Runway Youngin’s Fashion Show’

From designing, sewing to strutting their fashions on the runway, youth from the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center (SETLC) participated in the “14th Annual Sew ‘N Know Youngin’s Fashion Show,” on Saturday, June 10.

Presented by former D.C. First Lady Cora Masters Barry (SETLC and Recreation Wish List Committee founder) and sponsored by the dedicated work of motherand-son duo Janice Rankins and Raji Rankins of Sewing Oppor- tunity Never Ending, this year’s fashion show was themed “@ MET GALA,” and showcased the hard work of the young creatives.

“We have 25 young people that are in the fashion show. And so we have lots of wonderful, wonderful creations. We use a lot of lamé, a lot of glitz, a lot of glam,” said Janice Rankins, explaining some of the ensembles to support the Met Gala theme.

With about 250 guests in attendance, the 14th Annual Sew ‘N Know, brought out guests such as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. While the fashion and modeling are annual added bonuses, the overall purpose of the fashion show is to showcase the students’ talents.

“This is a unique fashion show,” Raji Rankins explained. “We create a great platform to give youth a meaningful art experience. We're bringing Southeast together to really just show what it is that Southeast kids have the capability of doing… This is our Southeast kids that are not only being on the runway, but they are creating styles and designs that they created themselves to then be able to display.” WI