. . . But it doesn’t taste good.

֎ [VOX] As of 2016, the median wealth for black families in America was $17,600, while the median wealth for white families was $171,000.

One of the biggest factors driving these disparities is housing. A home is the most valuable thing many people will own. And buying a nicer home in a nicer neighborhood has always been the easiest way to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. But that option hasn’t always been available to everyone, especially black families.

The story of housing discrimination in America is complicated and rooted in a long history of racist policies stretching back to slavery. Well into the 20th century, the government systematically discriminated against black homeowners through a process known as “redlining,” which constrained who could get decent mortgages for good homes and where those homes could be built.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor of African American studies at Princeton, wrote a book called Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership.

Salaries have remained flat for forty years while inflation has risen by 225.37%. Donald’s attack on food stamp programs displays his disregard for human value. Even food stamps cannot compensate for the disparity of constrained increases in salary. More than inflation, it is racism itself. The spirit of capitalism is in all the nation’s activities: racism, housing, salary, legislation and taxes. African Americans are not allowed to participate freely.

֎ [Washington Post] 5.1 times higher rate of incarceration

There are signs that racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system are declining, but in 2016, black people were still incarcerated at a rate 5.1 times higher than white people. That’s one of the findings in the first major report from the independent, bipartisan Council on Criminal Justice, which looked at the populations in U.S. prisons and jails, as well as individuals on parole and probation, between 2000 and 2016. It’s worth noting that in 2000 the rate at which black people were incarcerated was much higher at 8.3 times the rate white people were imprisoned. [Washington Post]

Racism remains the great sin of American Culture. Since its inception the US has been proud of itself for having equal rights and the freedom to achieve as well as one can. Except for African Americans. Although always present, typically white supremacy emerges in the citizenry during times of unrest and fear as one of the major identity movements.

Many years ago mariner had a contract with a deep Dixie state to examine new demands for computer support for a county sheriff’s department. He put together a knowledgeable team of four bright systems analysts: two whites, one woman and one black. The woman was deemed a whore because she was a divorcee traveling with men; the black was not allowed to make his presentations. Mariner filed a quick conclusion to meet obligations and cut the trip short. Racial prejudice, particularly in Dixie, is as strong as it ever was. It is true that migrations from other parts of the nation are beginning to lighten the deep red hue but that is only in the larger cities that have a college-oriented job market. The rural areas are as racially primitive as ever.

In urban areas, including the South, the last twenty years have shown visible changes in American society. The entertainment industry especially has made an effort to include all races in its productions; television advertisement has actors of several races in a large portion of its commercials. It is obvious that around the nation citizens aged 35 and younger have greatly reduced the exclusionary behavior of older generations.

While the Federal Government may make the most aggressive moves to integration, it is at the state level that legislators will be reticent and pass blocking regulations. In the south, voting is a good example. Dixie makes it as hard as possible for African Americans to vote.

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Speaking of state legislation, there is an extremely conservative organization called ALEC that has targeted state elections and local legislation to make it harder for the states ( and the Federal Government) to enact centrist and liberal policies. ALEC is well organized and funded comfortably by the Koch brothers and many other wealthy, far right corporations and individuals. Just as McConnell and Trump have elected 150+ conservative judges (many not even experienced trial lawyers) in order to have court cases lean toward conservative opinions, so too is ALEC playing the states to load legislatures with conservative legislators.

This activity, if at all successful, will make it easier for federal elections to be overturned by the Electoral College. This is another example of misrepresentation of the populations in rural counties and states. Enough conservative county voting officials can submit conservative members to the Electoral College while not having the popular vote. Only eleven states have passed legislation that says the popular vote mandates their position in the Electoral College.

Ancient Mariner