Summary of message from the Capitol: Elections can't change that "White Lives Matter"

As news of the arrests of some White folks who stormed the Capitol is being reported, it seems the consequences will hardly matter. They will only be a footnote to their message successfully sent: 

The message: "White lives are still what matters" as:

• Black and Brown lives will never be provided this level of implicit trust
• Will never have this systemic power
• Your efforts are futile. See how little things have changed after all the national and international "Black Lives Matter" protests across the Spring/Summer/Fall? 

White privilege oozed from the mock "revolution" -- as it more closely resembled a big frat party flaunting the power and popularity they currently enjoy. They provided a peek into the depth of the power systems in policing and politics -- and how happy representatives from many networks were to display their willingness to maintain this power structure at any cost.

What could begin to address the depths of this demonstrated systemic power inequity? (Some discussion was started in other threads):

1. The calls to re-imagine public safety/ de-fund policing seems a necessary change, but also seems more of a change to the surface/appearance of the system than a real change to the deeper power structure. 
2. A real revolution (which current systems of entertainment and minimal appeasement seem to keep at bay).
3. A financial power shift via substantial reparations to Black families (which there seems to be a growing will for).

Other options?

How to move forward on these?

More brainstorming:

Reparations could provide a starting point for increasing Black financial power. But, based on recent events, it’s likely that reparations would be met with significant backlash, making equitable systemic power more challenging to achieve.

But, is it possible for reparations to be structured in a way that anticipates this backlash, and incentivizes against it?

Perhaps reparations could be distributed by the selected means/programs/increments over some span of time. But for each backlash/intimidation action (e.g., hate crimes, lethal or significant physical force used by police toward unarmed Black persons, demonstrations of White supremacy, etc.), this base amount would be increased by pre-defined increments (perhaps up to some very high maximum). Time for distribution/programs could also be increased in response to these actions.

The goal: To be restorative for past and current injustices, as well to minimize these types of intimidation tactics for a long period of time.

No comments on that brainstorm? Not sure if that's because it's still being thought about, if it's unclear, seems somewhat unappealing/untenable/inappropriate -- or just TL;DR. 

In the meantime, I've started reading more about approaches/cautions to Reparations efforts:

(2005) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/William_Darity/publication/4901613_The_Economics_of_Reparations/links/00b7d51f25d3b5ba5f000000/The-Economics-of-Reparations.pdf

(2020) https://smile.amazon.com/Here-Equality-Reparations-Americans-Twenty-First-ebook/dp/B07XVF3X9D/

I’m learning a lot from these reflections -across all threads - and I’m trying not to comment (not my place). Despite some minority similarities experienced over here, it’s nothing like the injustices & genocide still continuing. My deep apologies to mem with whom I debated the situation so many years ago - things were kinda improving slowly but then John Howard’s crew got in and we regressed badly in many ways. Besides the point.

We’ve been trying to work Reconciliation for a long time, and supposedly we’re paying out very-long withheld indentured wages, and compensation/damages for institutional abuse, and land rights, cultural appropriation etc. But really all we ever see are actual results on in government failure to follow-through (because, you know, budget implications!), resulting in more resentment on all sides. 

Every citizen, every resident needs to know they matter in a community, no matter how large that community is. Every positive action should be valued, every heritage cherished and where possible, shared. There’s joy and strength in supporting the efforts to heal - if we can slowly change mining company culture (eg Rio Tinto), maybe we can work through this.  (ETA: I realise some of this last para reads a bit against what I’m trying to say - I’m blaming chemo brain today. We need to correct for past injustices but more importantly we need to understand why these actions, thought ‘well meant’, really weren’t and how they boomerang)

Thanks for posting, sprout. Haven't posted, because they're hard questions, but am thinking about them.

Understood. Discussed it with my Dad tonight. His concern is that this could further divide the working class. 

My thought is it's too late. The unions have been dismantled, and their ability to unify across race was limited. White privilege suggests faster/easier ways to get ahead, if one is White, than worker solidarity. And I don't think I'm seeing much else in terms of viable options at the moment.

With big, systematic issues, I struggle with reconciling two tracks -- what changes need to happen on the system scale, and what can I, as an individual, do? I think they're both important. To misuse a physics analogy, just as light is both a particle and a wave, humans are both individuals and social groupings. When people talk about environmental issues, for instance, I think it's both a mistake to dismiss individual action, and also a mistake to deny the need for system-scale change by putting all the responsibility on individual action.

On the scale of the system, I do think who has real power matters. It does matter, for instance, that Democrats won Georgia, and thus control of the Senate, based a huge amount of effort by black Americans. In theory, democratic elections keep elected officials accountable, though there's plenty of examples of this not actually happening -- see for instance rent seeking, regulatory capture, incumbency advantage, etc. This is why, in the politics sphere, I find arguments focusing on increasing democracy and democratic accountability compelling. There's both too many ways to win power without actually winning popular support and, once in power, too many layers between how officials exercise power and accountability to constituents.

As for what I'd expect on the systems scale, I definitely think there's a strong case for reparations. Coate's article still remains essential reading for me on this.

Then there's the question of both removing barriers, and affirmatively promoting change. Removing barriers is, to my mind, the easy question. Anti-discrimination laws are essential. Not just in things like employment, but perhaps more controversially in areas like land use regulation, which is an area I think good-faith conservatives and committed social justice liberals can find agreement on. It is way too hard to build the kind of housing and other built infrastructure that would allow integration.

The flip side, actively promoting change, is harder. I suppose reparations would be one example of this. The trickiness gets domain specific, though, so hard to talk through in abstract. If the thread goes in this direction, can get into that.

Now what I really struggle with is what I, as and individual, can be doing. All the above quite nicely aligns with my existing political choices, so it makes me suspicious as to how much I'm really challenging my privileges and perspectives. One thing sprout mentioned on one comment was the idea of transferring power, and that actually is helpful. Where do I, as an individual, hold or direct power? More places than I might think, if I reflect on that. As a consumer I'm directing wealth I have to someplace else, for instance. How am I wielding that power? In my work place, what influence do I have on questions like recruiting and interviewing, career advancement of coworkers, etc? In social interactions, what use do I make of my position as a beneficiary of white privilege, how much work do I take on vs expecting my black or brown friends and acquaintances to be the ones on the "race" beat? Etc.