From the outside, it may seem as though people of color are going through a renaissance. We are currently in the second term of our first-ever black president, and with the most recent appointment of an African-American female, Susan Rice, as National Security Advisor, it may appear as though black and brown faces are taking over the entire governmental apparatus. While most would agree that the face of government continues to be white and male, the face of the average American is rapidly changing to reflect communities of color. Data from the 2010 US Census revealed that for the first time ever, the majority of new births are to minority women, with non-Hispanic whites experiencing a 10 percent birth decline from July 2010 to July 2011.
As a Los Angeles native, I saw this trend play out across the city way before it was splashed across national headlines. While I feel a sense of excitement to live during a time of rapid demographic change, it’s plain to see that the old status quo is alive and well in cities and towns across America.
The tendency of schools to adhere to a zero tolerance policy has given birth to the school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionally affects children of color. According to the ACLU, there is no evidence to suggest that minority children act out at higher rates than their white counterparts, but figures show that minority children are often punished more severely for less severe infractions. Once in the system, kids find it extremely difficult to re-enter the traditional school system, and having an arrest record could have a number of ramifications as children transition into adulthood.
In direct correlation with the school-to-prison pipeline is the overwhelming number of men of color who currently reside in the most populous prison system in the world. Black men are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white men, even though the two groups have very similar rates of usage.
Incarceration is not only a strain on an individual, the effects reverberate to families of those incarcerated who no longer have a viable member of the family to provide financial a.nd emotional support. A majority of U.S states still disenfranchise ex-felons after their release from prison, disproportionally excluding men of color from the democratic process.
So what is the point of all of these facts? I would like to make a case that even in the age of the New Majority, white privilege still reigns supreme, even though the leader of the free world is black. It may be difficult for some in the mainstream to accept, but there are still two different Americas: one for people of color and one for whites. So when I heard of the White Student Union at Towsen University in Baltimore, Maryland my ears perked up. This is not the first time that someone has established a white student union, but their founder and current leader Matthew Heimbach was recently profiled on Vice in a 21-minute documentary profiling the unofficial student group.
The video is eye-opening and in my opinion, exposes an attitude and belief system that will only grow stronger as the long-standing majority is reduced to a minority status. In 2011, researchers from Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School found that a higher number of whites are perceiving, what they believe to be an anti-white bias as we move toward a higher levels of equality. I believe in the White Student Union’s right to exist and espouse any set of beliefs its members wish. However, it is troubling to see that people as young as Heimbach and his club members still operate within a system that seeks to maintain the status quo even in the face of blaring inequality.
The future is hurtling us toward a new majority status whether we like or not. Let’s work towards creating a society where no one is relegated to the back of the bus. This way, it will be a smoother ride for us all.
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