As I watched the first set of videos I was physically so uncomfortable and fidgety. Just the talk of what happened and what continues to happen is so wrong. It is so shameful that people are capable of such systemic abuse still even after we have known of the harm of it for so long. Much of the ways government tries to "help" is hidden behind intentions to keep some people richer than others. I live in Canada and I am an immigrant from Lebanon and have experienced and still do experience situations that intentionally block me but help my white fellow. For example, while in graduate school in 2007, I was turned down for a volunteer job as a writing assistant/helper for other students because I was "clearly not born here" and so my "language skills couldn't be good enough" while my peer who was an immigrant from Africa but had white skin was assumed to have adequate language skills and given the job. I don't know a lot about the racism of Black people in America and these videos have been illuminating and I'm shocked and disgusted it still happens. We're supposed to be better than this.
I just finished the second part of the first module - redlining, bank loans, NRA, incarceration rates - uncomfortable to sit through as I reach back into my upbringing, education, and the series of current events over my lifetime that informed my biases. Home - taught acceptance, kindness and respect - so the underlying biases would not be discovered until my mid-30s when I challenged the 'way of business'. Was it naiveté and believing those with the power would not misuse the power, that only those that did wrong would be punished? Being an obedient child, a good student, a people-pleaser for survival - the injustices done to others escaped me as unfair practices. As a second generation immigrant reflecting back to how those who shared my heritage were relegated to a certain part of town, now makes sense. However, the opportunity to leave the 'neighbourhood' was possible. So again, my experience clouded my understanding of what was and is still happening for people of colour. Incarceration doesn't work. It costs loads of money, so again systemic racism is alive and well. Instead of investing in people, the choice is to rob them of the opportunity to grow and fully participate in community.