Racism is a Symptom of Social Injustice

In these awkward times, my white Kaukasian friends are sending anti-racist messages to their white Kaukasian friends. This is all being done with very good intentions. But why should we 'convert' each other if we are already convinced? Do we distrust each other? And why do we have so few 'coloured' (non-white) friends to share our concern with? Could it be that our anti-racist messages benefit more to own mental well-being than to the hard social reality? It also has to be noted that most European police forces are quite different in their conduct from their American counterparts, so why would an American scene of violence become so relevant in our daily European social media?

Some argue that racism is the problem and the root cause of the police officer's behaviour. I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist. Racism, however, is rather a symptom of a deeper problem. The problem is called social injustice. What is happening in the US is in reality a social revolt. That is why urban European minorities are also raising their voice: they feel oppressed by the same social injustice. Unfortunately the leaders of the movement opt for the racism debate rather than the social justice debate. The racism debate is easier: you can blame racism and continue business as usual. For an upcoming leader, racism is also fancier: you can portray yourself as a new Martin Luther King.

Fighting racism in social media is like offering a paper handkerchief to a Covid-19 patient. If you want to cure the patient, you have to tackle the disease and the disease is social injustice. We can only create more social justice by changing the way our economy works: equal competition for unequal starters will never work. Higher moral values and standards need to be reflected better in the way we make decisions in our economy, at all levels. Moral behaviour should become more important than financial numbers.