The New Age of Sexism and Racism.

When I was a sprout, racism and sexism were more or less accepted as the norm for many Americans. (I was born in 1940). Of course there were also many people who opposed these principles, but the more common experience was of racism and sexism. During the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s laws changed and attitudes began to change. Women and minorities began to gain equality in many arenas. The gains seemed to plateau in the 90’s and a sort of status quo coasted along. But under this skin of equality there has been a steady attempt to erode the hard won rights and return America to an older time.  A time before Brown v Board of Education, Roe v Wade, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A time when all citizens were not equal in many ways.

And now all these advances are under attack, both overtly and covertly. Take Brown v Board of Education for example. This Supreme Court ruling in 1954 effectively eliminated the “separate but equal” myth from public education. It seemed to work until one after another States began the “Charter School” movement which ultimately will gut the public school systems and create elite quasi-private schools funded by tax payers. In many States public funds are being funneled into schools with religious agendas, clearly a Constitutional no-no. Public schools are under financial duress in many States anyway, and siphoning off funds is a sure way to cripple them further.

Look at Roe v Wade for another example. Since the Supreme Court in 1973 effectively affirmed that a woman had a right to unrestricted abortion services for the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy, many States have systematically attempted to chip away at that right by enacting a series of roadblocks to women seeking this service. The assault goes on today. It is, by the way, nearly 100% advocated by men, and the attempts to undermine a woman’s right to control her own body boils down to a “right not to choose”. The hard won freedom to control her own reproductive process is being assaulted from all sides.

As far as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act one  needs look only as far as the Legislative assaults on voters by redistricting, manipulating voting access and election financing to see the corrosive  effect of partisan political influence and the impact of unlimited donations on elections. Tiny groups of outliers control agendas, in some cases a single person (Grover Glenn Norquist for example) influence outcomes of the political process in favor of a minority group such as very rich people.

In all these instances, hard fought and hard won battles are being undermined and threatened. The Right to Bear Arms is winning while the Right Not to Bear Children and the Right to a Quality Public Education are losing.

Shame on you America. You can and should do Better.

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