These events, rules, and laws impacted the groups of people that were exclusively targeted, lessened, demeaned, dehumanized, and killed by such policies and continue to effect the lives of survivors or descendants:
Flint, MI citizens live with environmental racism and inequity of access to clean water.
Native American adults, who were taken from their families, live with the pain of a stolen childhood.
Black men and women continue to face discrimination in housing (red-lining) and medical care.
Historical practices of racism have lead to modern racist policies and practices.
I was unaware of these histories of racist policies and practices, which occurred over the history in the United States of America. "History is written by the conquerors"--no statement is more true. Growing up, I was told sanitized versions of the Natives' Trail of Tears, Japanese internment camps, and Ellis Island immigration. In public schools, we are not taught anything that is damning to the group who was in charge of making these decisions: anything that would hurt the "whiteness." I was somewhat aware of the U.S.history of eugenics, the changing definition of race, and medical atrocities (such as the Tuskegee syphilis study) because I have only recently begun my anti-racism education journey. I am continually horrified by what I am viewing and reading. I feel white shame at the atrocities committed by white people of the past towards others. I cannot learn what it means to be anti-racist without knowing the context or the history of how racism evolved over time.
What we are taught directly impacts our beliefs and behavior. When we dont know all the facts, it is nearly impossible to always think and do what is right. It seems crazy that so much info was "forgotten" as "his"tory was taught. Seeing all these lessons together, it is stunning to see how the drive to make money/protect property has created most of our current societal problems. We have been taught about how people in other places have blindly followed government propaganda but now we see that has been taking place in our own country. I am not sure yet how I feel about things like defunding the police but now I understand the reasons behind that movement. As we learn more, it is important to take these new lessons and figure out how we can use them to make a difference in our communities.