Thursday, January 21, 2021

Ya know, the systemic racism (waves hands) all around

The idea of "systemic racism" depends on the idea that racism is both everywhere and yet nobody can identify what system needs fixing and what steps could be taken to address the so-called problem.  So I had a hearty laugh at this excerpt from an NPR interview this morning with a Democratic representative from Delaware:
KING: OK. The president signed an executive order yesterday to combat racial inequity, to advance equity in federal policymaking, to root out systemic racism in programs and institutions. In his inaugural address, he mentioned systemic racism, which may, I think, be the first time for a U.S. president in that type of speech. What are the specifics of this executive order?

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Well, you know, actually, the focus of this entire campaign, as well as his focus, will be to look at the structural and systemic challenges that we face. And so, you know, one of the things that even COVID-19 has done is shown us that within agencies, within policies, we have institutional and structural racism. And so doing that deeper dive into the structures, the policies, the things that - for example, the collection of data...
You know, the structures and stuff!  Noel King bravely tries again:
KING: But again, if I - yeah, I'd love to ask about specifics. Yes, exactly. It sounds as though President Biden admits that systemic racism is a problem. So that's a step forward. But this executive order is saying, I want to do something about it. How does he want to do something about it?

BLUNT ROCHESTER: Well, you will - and I have to be, you know, clear, we as the - and I'm in the Congress, not in his office.

KING: Sure.

BLUNT ROCHESTER: But we're still actually getting a lot of the language for both the executive orders. And we will be working with him on the legislative side as members of Congress. But I can tell you, his intentions are based on, again, the things that he has seen, the things that he has experienced and his desire to move this country forward and recognizes that when we look at everything from how people are trained, you know, to how we collect data, if we don't know the information, then we're - and we're not measuring - then we won't be able to really make the changes that we want to see. And so it is his intention that we look at it through a lens. We're doing the same thing in Congress today.
What a word salad that says exactly nothing.  But then it's not a problem to be solved.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nailed it! Also, incoherent comments by individual politicians about media bias, socialism or the national debt prove that those aren't real problems either.