LETTER: We must end racist behavior or face a future of ugly apartheid

To Ozaukee Press:

I am a longtime resident of the Town of Belgium and Port Washington, temporarily living in Argentina. I am a white male in my 60s born in Chicago. I was a professor at several universities in the University of Wisconsin System.

I want to stand with all those who know and insist that Black Lives Matter. Ozaukee County is largely white. The lack of diversity is one of this country’s greatest weaknesses. If you are born and grow up in the U.S. and are white, you will be steeped in racism from your earliest years.

Beneath the institutionalized racism we see is the racist presumption that white people are better than black people or others who are not white. Unless a large percentage of us can admit that this is the presumption upon which we were raised, which has permeated our culture, schooling, books, history presented to us formally and in dramatic fabrications, we will get nowhere in creating communities that manifest true democracy.

We white people need to understand that, though we may think we are not being racist, doing nothing supports the perpetration of racism. We have ample cases of police forces across the country in which many good officers who are not overt racists are nonetheless aware of racist cops and do nothing about them.

Aside from racism, a critical issue that must be addressed is the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers. The very officers who are there to protect and to serve the people are in too many cases approaching citizens as if they were the enemy.

I am not a black person, but if I were, I would know that to be pulled over by police for any reason these days presents an existential threat. I know the white arguments, such as, “If the person just did everything the police said, they would not have been killed.” These arguments overlook the fact that each of us has rights. We have a Constitution and laws, and they are supposed to be administered without prejudice. While we do not have separate sets of laws for whites and non-whites, it is apparent that these laws are not executed equally. Nor is the “justice” that follows blind to race.

Ozaukee County is a beautiful county. There is no reason it should be a county that is not diverse, and the fact that it is not diverse is a testament to a history of racism. We all need to dig deep if we hope to be ethical persons, to recognize that the culture we grew up in was, for 99% of us, racist. We need to learn how to deconstruct racism, take it apart and end it. This is our task—the task of government officials, police and every citizen. We will determine if the future of Ozaukee County is to be exclusive and bigoted, or if it can become a model of true respect for all citizens. Our institutions must change and we must change. The alternative is ugly, destructive and unsustainable apartheid.

Brian Carlson
Port Washington and Argentina