Here’s an example of what systemic white supremacy looks like in 2023.
This man is Charlie Vaughan, a man wrongfully convicted of murder 30+ years ago.
In the time since his conviction, another man has come forth and confessed to that murder, and a mountain of evidence demonstrates that. Charlie Vaughn is innocent, and the other person is guilty.
In Arkansas, you are allowed to petition the governor for clemency. And Charlie Vaughn’s lawyer did just that. But Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has decided, no, she’s not going to give this innocent man clemency and said, you can try again in six years.
Systemic White Supremacy Persists
Systemic white supremacy is when society is set up in a way that favors white people over people of color, especially Black people. This can be seen in many areas of life. For example, in:
- Law, people of color might be treated unfairly, like being arrested more often.
- Money matters, they often have less, struggle to find good jobs, or can’t get good houses.
- Schools, places with mostly people of color might not have as many resources or good education.
- Healthcare, they might not get the best treatment or have a hard time getting to doctors.
- Movies and TV might show stereotypes or not enough stories about people of color.
People might also have biases or unfair thoughts about people of color without even realizing it. This problem comes from a long history of racism and it takes a lot of work from everyone to change it.
Black and white Americans commit crimes at about the same rates, but black Americans are charged and arrested at a rate of six to 10 times more than that of white Americans. They also get 20% longer prison sentences.
A 2022 report found that black people were seven times more likely than white people to be wrongfully convicted of murder.
And while Charlie Vaughn is not getting the death penalty, it’s no wonder that more than half of the people exonerated from death row are black.
And over the last 50 years, one in eight people executed was innocent the whole time.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders had the opportunity to lead with integrity and justice. Instead, she perpetuated a horrific and brutal system of white supremacy, which reminds me that this system is not broken.
It’s simply that a system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect in the first place.