Why Race Relations Got Worse: Our Conversations Are Increasingly Tribalistic
Unless the underlying economic issues are tackled (basically blacks being hit with a huge economic disadvantage for generations due to racism and issues stemming from it (redlining, segregation, Jim Crow, poorly funded school districts, etc.), race relations can&#x27;t progress much further.<p>That&#x27;s because they are also &quot;class&quot; relations, and US society sees it fit to offend, deride and look down upon the poor. So when blacks are predominantly poorer, the will be looked down.<p>People are less inclined to be racist to middle class&#x2F;richer families (and the inverse is the reason that most can be trivially discriminating and offensive against poor white people &quot;white trash&quot;, &quot;trailer tress&quot;, the homeless, etc -- the poor, even white ones, are fair game for discrimination and abuse).<p>And this can&#x27;t be trivialized to &quot;it&#x27;s 2016, slavery stopped in 1865, they had all the chances to bounce back&quot;. Black people alive today, in their 60s, have faced segregation. It&#x27;s not some ancient history. Their parents faced Jim Crow. They couldn&#x27;t get job opportunities, study where they wanted, etc.<p>When parents are held down, their kids wont get the education their white middle class peers afforded for theirs. And that will pass on to the next generation, keeping them poorer. And there has been plenty of racism in hiring decisions, redlining, etc since the 70s to assure this goes on. &quot;Affirmative action&quot; compared to the damages done is a drop in the bucket.