What if Jim Crow Never Ended?
Some Black History Month Observations
Martin Luther King would have been truly disappointed that nearly 60 years since the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Black Americans continue to be relegated to the status of third-class citizens, marked out for unequal treatment, harassment, and worse. What’s more, this awful situation extends to many other countries; in 2023, we’re living in the midst of a pervasive global anti-Blackness.
60 years on, still no meaningful freedom
Although America prides itself on its commitment to “freedom,” those who haven’t been living under a rock over the last few years, know perfectly well that there is no meaningful freedom for people of African descent in the US. The latest police brutality videos that are shared on social media every day demonstrate the grim reality that basic civil rights to life and liberty continue to be violated in mind-boggling numbers.
Indeed, it could be argued that the business-as-usual murders of Black people in the 2020s are not so different from the public lynchings during Jim Crow. The only difference is that while the Jim Crow lynchings were openly racist…
