“Systemic racism” means institutionalized racism: racism which is fundamental to the institution and its core values. The Ku Klux Klan embodies such racism, as do various white identity groups. And there are the Nazis, especially those of 80 years ago, who killed millions of people to advance their insane racial agenda.
Does racism exist in Clark County, Washington? Of course, but on an individual, not an institutional, basis. It’s a tribal thing, an unintended byproduct of pride in who one is. Occasionally it’s virulent, as it was in the Jim Crow days of yesteryear. But today, especially in areas far removed from the Deep South, it’s of a more mild variety, usually in the nature of an ingrained suspicion of someone who’s deemed to be different, and perhaps less important, than members of the person’s “tribe.”
How do we stamp out racism? Well truthfully, we don’t, although things like education and personal interactions can go a long way in that direction. But it’s a huge mistake, and ultimately counterproductive, to attack someone who chooses not to indict one of our governmental institutions on the charge of systemic racism when there isn’t clear and convincing evidence to support such a charge.
