Part 1: A Reflection on American Racism, Historical Foundations and Hypocrisy (March 22, 2026)

  Trigger Warning: This post contains discussions of racism, systemic oppression, and disturbing themes. I am writing this to document my observations and critique systems of injustice, not to sensationalize.

I am writing this as part of my ongoing series documenting my experiences as a targeted individual. The surveillance operators who harass me are not representative of all Americans. There are kind, decent, faithful people in the United States who love God and seek to do good. However, I believe there is a particular strain of corruption within certain elite institutions that needs to be examined.

What follows is not a condemnation of any race or nation. All nations have complex histories, and all peoples are capable of both good and evil. My hope is that by examining these systems honestly, we may learn, grow, and turn toward what is good. Ultimately, I place my hope in God's mercy through Jesus Christ, who calls us to love our neighbours as ourselves.

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American Racism: Historical Foundations

The Contradiction at the Heart of America

The United States was founded on principles of liberty and equality, yet these ideals were not extended to all people. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that "all men are created equal" while slavery remained legally protected. This contradiction has shaped American history ever since.

From the displacement of Indigenous peoples to the enslavement of Africans, from Jim Crow laws to ongoing racial disparities, the United States has struggled to reconcile its founding ideals with its practices. As sociologist Joe Feagin (2014) documents, systemic racism in America is not merely individual prejudice but a deeply embedded structure affecting housing, education, employment, healthcare, and criminal justice.

The racial wealth gap remains significant. According to the Federal Reserve's 2023 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median white household holds approximately ten times the wealth of the median Black household. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these inequalities, with Black and Latino communities experiencing higher rates of infection, job loss, and economic hardship. Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) showed that systemic factors, unequal access to healthcare, housing, and employment, made these communities more vulnerable.

Political Polarization and Racial Discourse

The pandemic also intensified political polarization around race. During this period, debates over critical race theory, voting rights, and police reform became flashpoints. While Democrats positioned themselves as advocates for racial justice, critics have observed that Democratic-led cities often maintained policies that perpetuated inequality. Meanwhile, Republicans faced criticism for rhetoric that some viewed as stoking racial division.

I do not claim that one party is closer to God than another. Both have failures. But I have observed that performative gestures, such as corporate diversity initiatives that coexist with exploitative practices, can obscure deeper issues. True justice requires more than surface-level commitments.

Colourism and Appearance-Based Prejudice

One dimension of American racism that deserves attention is colourism, prejudice based on skin tone within and between racial groups. Research suggests that colourism operates differently in the United States than in some other countries. Scholar Margaret Hunter (2007) notes that in the US, lighter skin has historically been associated with higher social status, education, and income, even among people of the same racial group. This dynamic has roots in slavery, where lighter-skinned enslaved people were sometimes given preferential treatment.

In Europe, colourism often manifests differently, shaped by distinct colonial histories and immigration patterns. The American emphasis on racial categorization, often reducing complex identities to binary categories, has made colourism particularly visible in the US context.

Corporate Hypocrisy and Cultural Power

The Gap Between Image and Reality

One tension in American culture is the contrast between what institutions publicly profess and what they privately enable. Many corporations have robust diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. They have diversity training, DEI initiatives, and public commitments to racial justice. Yet the entertainment and media industries produce content that often reinforces racial stereotypes and exploits marginalized groups.

This is not to dismiss corporate DEI as meaningless, but to recognize that power operates on multiple levels. While corporate policies reflect one kind of power, cultural influence, through media, entertainment, and celebrity, shapes public attitudes in ways that may contradict those policies. Celebrities and athletes have immense influence. They represent brands, shape norms, and can either challenge or reinforce harmful stereotypes. Soft power matters. Entertainment matters. What a society produces and consumes reflects its values.

Research on Pornography and Racial Stereotypes

The pornography industry, largely American-dominated, has been critiqued for perpetuating racial stereotypes. Research shows that pornography often reinforces racial hierarchies, with Asian women frequently portrayed as submissive or exotic, Black men as hypersexualized, and white women as the normative standard of beauty (Cowan & Campbell, 1994; Dines, 2010).

Studies indicate that pornography sites frequently categorize content by race, reinforcing stereotypes and contributing to the fetishization of people of color (Miller-Young, 2014). Asian women in particular are often portrayed through the "submissive Asian" stereotype, a trope rooted in colonial and military contexts, including the presence of American soldiers in Asia and the "mail-order bride" industry (Nemoto, 2006; Zheng, 2016). Research by Yoshihama (2002) and Crenshaw (1991) documents how such stereotypes contribute to higher rates of sexual harassment and violence against Asian women.

The other extreme, portraying women as jezebels, witches, or dominatrices, is equally problematic. Both representations reduce human beings to caricatures based on race. Scholars have documented how these "oppositional stereotypes" work in tandem: the submissive Asian woman and the dragon lady; the jezebel and the mammy; the exotic and the dangerous. These are not accidental. They serve to control and dehumanize.

Scripture, Race, and Generational Trauma

The Ezra Passage in Context

I want to address the misuse of scripture to justify racial separation. In the book of Ezra, the Israelites returning from exile were instructed to separate themselves from foreign wives. This passage has been misused throughout history to justify racial purity ideologies.

However, the context of Ezra is specific. The Israelites were called to separate themselves from the idolatrous practices of surrounding nations. The concern was religious fidelity—avoiding the worship of foreign gods, not racial purity. As biblical scholar Daniel L. Smith-Christopher (2002) notes, Ezra's reforms were about preserving religious identity in a vulnerable post-exilic community, not creating racial hierarchy.

From a Christian perspective, the gospel breaks down racial barriers. The apostle Paul wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The early church was remarkable for its inclusion of people from all nations, races, and social classes. Racism is fundamentally incompatible with the gospel.

Modern Racism in Historical Context

It is worth noting that the forms of racism we see today, systemic, global, and rooted in centuries of colonialism and exploitation, are historically unprecedented. While prejudice and xenophobia have existed throughout human history, the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, and the scientific racism of the 18th and 19th centuries created structures of inequality that continue to affect generations.

Research on epigenetics suggests that trauma can be passed across generations. Studies have shown that descendants of enslaved people, Holocaust survivors, and other trauma survivors exhibit biological markers of stress that can affect health, cognitive development, and emotional well-being (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018). This does not mean any group is inherently inferior, it means oppression leaves wounds that take generations to heal.

References

Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018). Racism without Racists. Rowman & Littlefield.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). COVID-19 racial and ethnic health disparities.

Cowan, G., & Campbell, R. R. (1994). Racism and sexism in interracial pornography. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18(3), 323-338.

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299.

Dines, G. (2010). Pornland. Beacon Press.

Feagin, J. R. (2014). Racist America. Routledge.

Federal Reserve. (2023). Survey of Consumer Finances.

Fields, K. E., & Fields, B. J. (2012). Racecraft. Verso.

Hunter, M. (2007). The persistent problem of colorism. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 237-254.

Miller-Young, M. (2014). A Taste for Brown Sugar. Duke University Press.

Nemoto, K. (2006). Intimacy, desire, and the construction of self. Journal of Asian American Studies, 9(1), 27-54.

Pew Research Center. (2023). Race in America.

Smith-Christopher, D. L. (2002). A Biblical Theology of Exile. Fortress Press.

Yehuda, R., & Lehrner, A. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 14, 319-338.

Yoshihama, M. (2002). Breaking the silence of violence against Asian women. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 11(3-4), 1-6.

Zheng, R. (2016). Why yellow fever isn't flattering. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 5(1), 1-15.