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We Are Going Backwards

The Source has wandered into the minefield of the systemic racism narrative with a series of articles and a more recent Person of the Week profile (April 1 “Cowles-Garcia Retreads Activist Path at The Country School”). I found the articles lacking in any evidence of systemic racism much less a definition of that polarizing phrase. Presumably saying so makes it so, evidence notwithstanding. Also, it’s difficult to empathize with a young woman who presumably lived in Madison, an affluent and beautiful town with low crime, and attended the privileged and private Country School that according to its website costs up to $33,570 per annum to attend. I will presume that this path was all voluntary. I didn’t have those opportunities when I was growing up, yet because of the color of my skin I am somehow privileged and therefore inherently a racist individual.

The Civil Rights movement led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., risked lives to advance the cause of equality in this country, culminating in a series of civil rights acts beginning in 1964 that covers employment, voting, and housing and are still the law of the land. If there is systemic racism, where are class action lawsuits?

We are going backwards in this country as everything is viewed through the lens of skin color. It is hypocritical claiming to be a victim of racism and then accusing swaths of your fellow citizens as being racist without any evidence. This narrative of systemic racism has permeated D.C., Hartford, and now Madison and the media has been complicit in this new narrative. The divide in this country will grow wider unless we address this issue honestly based on facts not narratives. I would welcome a debate, not conversation, on this issue because only then can the falsehoods be exposed.

Peter Loftus

Madison

Editor’s note: The Source defines systemic racism as a form of racism that occurs when laws, policies, or norms favor one race over another, regardless of intent.