By Dr. Sawraj Singh
The racial riots in Ferguson, Missouri show that racial divisions are becoming deeper. A survey regarding the riots demonstrates that whites and blacks have diametrically opposite feelings. The majority of whites are sympathetic to the police and law enforcement authorities, whereas the majority of blacks are sympathetic to Michael Brown, the young man shot and killed by a white police officer.
This racial polarization is the most dangerous indicator of the growing threat of a race war. The same racial polarization is seen between whites and Hispanics on the issue of illegal immigration. The majority of whites favor legislation such as the Arizona Immigration Act while the majority of Hispanics oppose it. Such polarization and deepening divisions can eventually lead to open confrontation and race war.
It is not just in the police, racial prejudice and inequality are prevalent in every field whether it is health care, education, housing, the legal system, employment, income, or law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). There are several studies which demonstrate that police search minorities more and issue more traffic tickets to them as compared to whites. There have been allegations by minority agents in the FBI that they face discrimination. In the health care field, racial prejudice and racial discrimination is present at all levels. The health care delivered to minorities is of inferior quality as compared to white patients.
Any comparative statistics in health care will prove that racial discrimination exists. We can compare life expectancy, neo-natal mortality, or disease prevalence; all will prove that minorities get the short-end of the deal:
Infant mortality: white 5.5 black 12.8
Life expectancy: white 78.9 black 74.6
Incarceration rate (per 100,000 people): white 678 black 4,347
Unemployment rate: white 6.6% black 12.6%
Poverty rate: white 10% black 28%
College graduation rate among 25-29 age group: white 30% black 15%
Average household income: white $64,308 black $32,068
Average family wealth (approximate): white $600,000 black $150,000
(Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pew Charitable Trusts)
Minority health care providers also face racial prejudice and discrimination. They are more likely to lose their license or face adverse actions than white physicians. The medical insurance companies who insure health care providers admit the fact that it is easier to sue minority physicians than white physicians. Out of minority physicians, the FBI seems to be going selectively after Indian-origin physicians. However, no government statistics have been released on the racial breakdown of physicians against whom adverse actions were taken by state Licensing Boards or the FBI. In England, such statistics were released and they showed that Indian doctors were four times more likely than white doctors to face adverse actions. It is my strong feeling that the situation in America is much worse than in England. However, repeated calls to release such statistics have not been answered and even today no such statistics are available.
Let us look at the facts in Ferguson. The population of the city is more than two-thirds black. However, the mayor and five of the six City Council members are white; out of the 53 police officers of the Ferguson Police Department, only three are black and 50 are white. Compare this statistic to the number of blacks in correctional facilities. I am sure this will be exactly opposite or even a larger difference. According to the US 2000 census, African Americans comprised 12% of the population of Missouri, while the percentage of black inmates in Missouri’s correctional facilities was 50%. Therefore, in a community which is more than two-thirds black, chances are that virtually all of the jail and prison inmates in the region will be black. Does this mean that the African race is genetically more prone to commit crime? If this was true, then all countries in Africa should have the highest crime rates in the world because the vast majority of people there are racially African. However, this is not so. I have travelled in Africa. Some countries in Africa have crime rates that are much lower than the US. I felt safe while travelling in Africa, and amongst the local populations that I communicated with, no one there talked about crime as much or as regularly as I hear about in America.
The O.J. Simpson case divided white and black America more than any other case in recent American history. The whites were largely sympathetic to his white wife (Nicole Brown Simpson) and believed that he murdered her. The blacks, on the other hand, mostly believed that he was framed. A compromise was somehow reached. Simpson was found not guilty of the murder so that the black population was appeased. However, he was financially destroyed, and that appeased the whites. There seems to be no such luck in Ferguson. The confrontation between the black population and police is only going to get worse.
Electing a black as President of the country was supposed to have reduced confrontation between blacks and whites. However, nothing like that has happened. The Obama experiment has failed. The blacks were initially euphoric that a black person became President of the country. Many blacks have painfully realized that they are no better off under a black President than they were during the administrations of white Presidents. Other minorities also feel that they are no better off under a black President. In some ways, minorities are worse off. If they complain now that they are being discriminated against, then whites cleverly ask them that how can this be true, when we have made a minority the President of the country. Obama has only diluted their case of being discriminated against.
The growing population of Hispanics is rapidly changing the racial equation in America. For the first time, the number of minority students enrolled in public schools has exceeded the number of white students. The economic decline and crisis as well as changing demographics are going to further deepen racial divisions and increase chances of racial confrontation. The first-generation Hispanic immigrants were very docile and submissive. They were generally afraid of whites. However, the second generation, especially those children raised in Hispanic-majority areas, is much different. They are much more defiant and aggressive. They are not afraid to assert their Hispanic identity, particularly in areas where their population is concentrated. In such areas, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated with much more enthusiasm and vigor than the 4th of July. It is not uncommon to see more Mexican flags than American flags in Hispanic-majority areas. I was in the San Jose area when the controversy over the Arizona Immigration bill was going on. Many Hispanics were driving with huge Mexican flags on their cars in what seemed to be an act of defiance.
It is not an exaggeration to say that today, America is facing more isolation and opposition in the Latin American region than in any other region of the world. The Latin American countries have shown more enthusiasm in joining BRICS than any other region in the world. This growing opposition by Latin American countries to the US is also going to effect the Hispanic population in the US and increase their confrontation with the white population.
Everyday the population of the US is becoming more diverse and America is becoming a truly multicultural country. However, the majority of the white population has not yet accepted the changing identity of the US. They still believe that just like most of Europe, America is a white-majority country and will always remain that way. This denial by whites sows seeds of confrontation. There are only two ways for America to accept the new reality: a peaceful transition or a violent confrontation. Just like at the world level where America is unwilling to accept the reality of a multi-polar world, in the same way it is resisting its own changed identity. Both of these denials increase the risk of confrontation, a Third World War, and a race war at home.
There is an enlightened minority among whites and there are fair-minded and justice-loving whites who would like to see a peaceful transition. If all peace and justice-loving people unite, then a race war can be averted.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
