Checking Racism In America, For A Pulse, Just In Case

IN THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, an African-American, any and all African-American, is described as three fifths of a person. A bit later in the document, just a few lines down, it says, no, we were just kidding, but the original definition is still there, for all to see, never having been expunged from the record, merely rendered inactive. There they sit, the two laws, right there in our founding document, one racist, the other not, in opposition to each other, rather like prohibition and repeal of prohibition later on down. Racism, like it or not, admit it or not, has been throughout most of American history a core American value, among America's strongest traditions. Wherever you see a racist, you see a traditionalist, a conservative who is opposed to fundamental social or any other kind of change. Historically, American culture is among the world's most racist. But what about today's America? Is it still racist, are there lingering vestiges of this misguided core value, or have we finally eliminated it from our civic culture? In the constitution of the great state of Alabama, there is a provision prohibiting white children and black children from going to the same school. Its been there a long time, and fortunately is conveniently ignored in today's relatively enlightened American southern style culture in post Brown vs Topeka Board of Education America. Surveys indicate that a decade ago about half the eligible voters in Alabama wanted this racist provision removed, but that as of now, only about forty percent want it removed, with the other sixty percent majority of Alabamians presumably either content to let it remain, perhaps for tradition's sake, or actively in favor of it. Its anybody's guess why anyone would not want it removed. If this trend continues, within a few years every adult in Alabama will favor having a provision in their state constitution which is blatantly racist. And to think, there are those who say that racism is dead in America, that we've eliminated it, and that it only comes into existence when liberals bring up the topic. It would in fact appear otherwise. In fact, it would almost appear, if one didn't absolutely know better, that racism is "enjoying" an American renaissance, what with the emergence of the "alt right" movement, and other racist white supremacist groups, the proliferation of confederate battle flags on beat up pick up trucks, the "black lives matter" movement, and other indicators. And that's not to even mention our new president elect, who has been described by more than one observer as sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and heaven only knows what else. Whatever evidence Trump's critics offer to demonstrate this, his supporters either ignore, argue against vociferously, or don't care about. So, who knows? Maybe racism is dead in America, but if it is, its doing one helluvan impersonation of a living entity, pretty impressive for anything allegedly dead, good enough in fact, to at least be checked for a pulse.