“The elimination of racism as a policy factor in public and private decisions would seem in the interest of every American, white as well as black. But racial subordination has served so many white interests well that some social scientists doubts that it can be eliminated. Public policy expert Tilden W. LeMelle doubts ‘…whether a society such as the United States is really capable of legislating and enforcing effective public policy to combat racial discrimination in the political process and elsewhere. He says history presents no instances where a society in which racism has been internalized and institutionalized to the point of being an essential and inherently functioning component of that society ever reforms, particularly a culture from whose inception racial discrimination has been a regulative force for maintaining stability and growth and for maximizing other cultural values. He doubts whether such a society of itself can even legislate (let alone enforce) public policy to combat racial discrimination. He sees the United States acting effectively against racism only when that racism is perceived as posing a serious threat to the country rather than serving as the useful regulator it has been.[Lemelle, Foreword in R. Burkey, Racial Discrimination and Public Policy in the United States 38 (1971).]’ Derrick Bell “Race, Racism and American Law” Page 46
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 22:13:45 +0000
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