When a people has been oppressed and enslaved for hundreds of years the oppressor takes on a persona, of the belief those who are oppressed are less of a person than the oppressor. In fact at one time Blacks were considered to be 3/5 of a person. Even if those who are oppressed are afforded some liberty such as the end of slavery, the oppressor still has a mindset of superiority. Such is the case with history in our country. After the emancipation proclamation ending slavery, the feeling among many was that the blacks would not know what to do and would helpless without out guidance from the whites.
During the reconstruction period whites where surprised to see that many of the blacks became self-reliant and began to build strong communities and business of their own. This enraged a great portion of the former slave holders and other non-blacks. They were irritated by the fact that a people who was prohibited by law from learning to read or write had produced intelligent businessmen and women. Not to mention that many were gifted farmers after working the land for so many years.
A group named the Redeemers emerged after the end of reconstruction in 1877 and pre KKK. The Redeemers message was “Make America Great Again.” They wanted things to return to the way it was when blacks were enslaved and powerless under the laws. The Redeemers was mostly made up of those who called themselves Christians and Patriots. They believed the blacks were getting to uppity and did not deserve or were they entitled to the same rights as the whites. This was an ingrained attitude of oppression.
Unsuccessful at reinstating slavery the oppressor came up with Separate but equal in 1890 in Louisiana. The blacks could have their freedom, but not in conjunction with the freedom of whites. Everything had to be separated according to race. This approach to race was solidified by the Supreme Court Case Plessy vs Fergunson in 1896. The equal part never played out. There was great disparities in schools, employment, housing, medical treatment and the list goes on. there nothing actually equal in separate but equal.
Now Fast forward past Court approved segregation, widespread lynching’s, Jim Crow, redlining, and the many laws written into the books with the intent of controlling blacks to today. The spirit of oppression is yet alive. It still lives through Institutional racism, to the point that even those who consider themselves not a racist, still take no issue with the continued expression of oppression.
It takes the form of what the oppressors preach daily; Law and Order. Law and Order is a term used down through the years by the oppressors which infers that the blacks need to be controlled. Remember many of the laws were written to control black people.
It is amazing how the oppression mindset continues even into the year 2020. It has been regurgitated by the highest office in the land, not subversive as in years past but directly in the face of all who will listen. It is always accompanied by fear. The oppressor has to stir fear into the hearts of non-whites to maintain control. It is always about rapist, crime and assault to the American way of life being threatened that motivates oppression. Without control the oppressor has no power.
Today it is even reached the point that the oppressors are talking about a civil war. Think about it, a part of our country is crying out for equality, not saying kill white people, not saying let’s take over the country. But saying can we be treated equal under the law as guaranteed by the constitution. Yet this is a cue to the oppressors to act as they did in the past. One of the greatest acts of the past was to suppress the voice of the blacks by way of suppressing their right to vote. In the past there was pole taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses that restricted the vote. Today,
