Worship of Written Word part 2
The law and race has not been very kind to non-white people in the United States. Whether we talk about the 1790 Nationality Act, which gave free whites the ability to become citizen, the Dred Scott decision, which declared by Chief Justice Taney, “all men are created equal,” Taney reasoned that “it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration. . . .”, or if we talk about Jim Crow 2.0, which restricts voting rights to prevent voter fraud that has not been proven to exists on a large scale and ends up resulting in voter suppression. We see patterns and arguments to keep and down play that these laws and court decisions are not racist, sexist, heterosexist, or any other form of oppression.
Think about it. Slavery was legal. It was protected by the written word of the law. Indigenous people were legally removed from their land. Women and people of color were kept from voting by law. Educational opportunities were limited by law. I could go on and on. With all of these examples in mind, I find it perplexing how we continue to think that the law alone will fix the damage that legalized oppression has caused. We need laws and policies to change, but we also need accountability and consequences for the current and past harm done.
I am further confused when people think that the damage of these laws is not seen as systemic and deny the effect on people’s mindset, value setting, and behaviors let alone the effect on people’s social determinants of health. With the power of the written word, some people rely on certain words being omitted and then claiming innocence. This denial has allowed these laws and behaviors to persist.
This is why I appreciate people like those involved in the government alliance on race and equity. They have tools and action steps to examine policies and processes to ensure we have the conversations and recognition of how the written word has been worshipped to our detriment and how it can be use to help.
