TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, my name is Nattaani Daba and this is the first episode of “Yo is this racist or prejudice?” podcast. Today, I will be talking about three different situations that are examples or could be debated as examples of racism and/or systematic injustice. The first example I will be speaking too will be racism and prejudice when it comes to real estate. In one of my “Diary of Systematic Injustice” entries, I wrote about racism in real estate because I went through a situation with my uncle. We were talking about how he plans to sell his house and what are the logistics that come into play when you sell a house. He was telling me there’s one major detail that his realtor told him that he would have to make sure would be done or this could de-value his whole home. That main thing was pictures, videos, or any images of him or his family or any friends will have to be taken down in the listing before they sell the house. I asked my uncle why you would have to do that. Does it really matter honestly as long as they get clear pictures of the property and every angle/room of everything they need to see? He told me no because when you are African American, your house is de-valued and the property is appraised at a lower rate than if no one knew what race you were or if you were Caucasian for example. I asked why that is and he said it goes back to the term redlining. Redlining is where different real estate people would mark off communities that had high concentrations of minorities and people of color to show that these places have lower value because of that reason in particular. The other neighborhoods that were predominantly Caucasian for example, were not red-lined. They would be left as is or be marked as green. This practice is racist because it follows the textbook definition of racism, which is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. That in itself is a prime example of racism. It shows that just because you’re a specific ethnicity or racial group that you will be targeted systematically as well. This is a rule that is placed through all real estate in America and is not an isolated instance. There has not been much passed in legislation or laws to curb this and it is an ongoing issue that needs to be solved.  

Another example of racism that I wrote about in my “Diary of Systemic Injustice” assignment was when I was in the Short North area and I was invited to go to the bar with my friends. When I got to the bar and got to the front, I was told that I could not come in. I asked why that is and they told me that based off of the clothes that I was wearing that I would not be allowed inside. It attracts the patrons that they do not want at their establishment. I thought about it for a second and the clothing that I was wearing would be considered urban. Urban is technical jargon for “black” or African American. I saw the flyer the man was referring that showed the dress code for the area. It showed that I could not wear my Air Jordan 1s, my camo shorts, and certain plain colors because they said it represents a gang affiliation. Honestly, it was just to filter out African American patrons from coming to the facility. It did not matter to the person that I was bringing extra people there, I had my girlfriend, her friends, and my friends as well. They did not care about that, they said they could come in but me and two other people could not come in because of the clothes we were wearing. This is an example of racism because without saying it, they are saying “If you are black, you cannot come in here”. If you don’t adhere to a certain code, we will not allow you in and will not allow people that wear this clothing or bring this vibe to our establishment. That is a prime example of racism and is systematic because it is a rule placed by the establishment and not one instance of an individual, maybe a woman wearing something to scantily clad or a man wearing something to scantily clad. This is a prime example of racism and is systematic because of that reason.  

The last example I will be speaking on today will be one of the situations I went through as well when I was on the west side of Columbus. I was going through the area and saw that there was a checkpoint. At the checkpoint there were numerous police and could see that there was I.C.E as well. I.C.E is the customs agency that works for the United States government and they work as a taskforce for immigration. They’re there to basically to make sure everyone in their area has their papers and is a “legal” citizen. I saw that if you were Caucasian or a person that had name that was American you would be let through with no issue and there would be no extensive check. If you were someone who was Latino, especially Latino, or someone that had an unusual name that had an “ethnic” background, to it, they would pull you aside and run a more extensive screening on you to see if you had your papers. They are targeting a particular group, I don’t have to say much because it speaks for itself. Law enforcement is targeting specific groups of people, mainly minorities and people of color because they are trying to “keep their country safe” and to make sure that everyone that is here is here legally. Which in a literal sense is the right thing to do but that is not what they are doing because everyone they are stopping is a certain ethnic group and race or fit within a certain group which is the minority group. All these people are tax paying citizens, they contribute to the economy, they pay their bills and they do everything that every other citizen does and are being targeted since they do not have their papers, usually those who do not have their papers or is having a long process to get them are people of color. So it is a systematic rule or systematic way of trying to filter out certain groups from staying in America and that is looking at it from a bigger scale. It looks like they are doing their jobs from up close but if you examine the situation, you see that they are targeting certain groups which is an example of racism as well that is also systematic. All these examples are systematic because they are infrastructure-based rules or laws that target specific groups and use those rules/laws to either incarcerate or to hold down these groups in general from trying to get access to resources or to have higher social, economic, or financial standing. These are racist laws and should be lobbied against and should be edited since the demographics of this country are changing and more minorities enter everyday. The American dream is what the immigrants, minorities, and people of color are doing. They represent the American dream because the American dream is coming to a different place to have a better life for your family and friends. Changing generational issues or problems that you went through in your original country and coming here to start fresh and trying to build through hard work and determination. Even though these groups of people such as Latinos and African Americans abide by this and work hard just like every other citizen, they are targeted by specific laws and regulations. These laws and regulations that are targeting them and their progress are examples of racism. They follow the textbook definition and should be addressed more but they are not addressed because these are the ideas that the country was brought up on. Even though they are making progress, there is still a long way to go. This is the first episode of the “This is Racist” podcast, its Nattaani Daba and I’m signing out.