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CULTURE
Why Some See Racial Segregation Through Rose Colored Glasses
They’re focusing on racial separation and overlooking oppression
Some see segregation of the Jim Crow era through a pair of rose colored glasses. This may seem absurd to those well-versed in the racist atrocities of this period. Yet, this mythology helped to shape public perception. Central to this belief is the presumption of peaceful separation. By overlooking racial oppression, some romanticize that era. This narrative arose during an audio forum I attended a few years back. One Black man shared his support for racial segregation. He referenced self-sustainable black communities founded by freedmen to justify this position. A White man chimed in to agree, but for a more nefarious reason — anti-black racism. They argued social separation would foster harmony. At the time, I considered this perspective a fringe view. But years later, more people are cheering a hypothetical return to segregation. This suggests some hold a rosy view of one of America’s darkest periods.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We can only hope this wisdom from the Spanish philosopher George Santayana isn’t a universal truth, as some Americans view racial segregation as harmless or even beneficial. The only way to prevent history from repeating itself is to learn from the past. This is a challenge in a nation that doesn’t always reckon with its mistakes. Since President Donald Trump began his second term, more people have embraced this rosy depiction of the past. His slogan, Make America Great Again evokes a racialized nostalgia that appeals to white grievance politics. And has steered the nation to the right politically. For example, Trump lifted a ban on “segregated facilities” for federal contractors. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects citizens from racial segregation, so one could argue that this policy shift is symbolic. However, that doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. For more than sixty years, the federal government opposed racial segregation, and just like that, in a matter of months, policies are trending in the opposite direction.
This uncertainty over how far back America will regress has sparked conversations online. While many Black people have condemned this move as racist…
