ENGİN CİVAN

ENGİN CİVAN

International Finance Advisor / [email protected]

The Truth About the Upheaval and America's Black People

09 Haziran 2020 - 22:08

There are grievances; America is burning!

Cities are being burned down and destroyed.

The chaos keeps growing.

The entire world is keenly observing the events in the US.

So where are our renowned commentators, our great columnists who write for various news portals?

There are reactions from all over the place, but not a peep out of them!

When I read about the above-mentioned legitimate outcry in social media, I decided to put my enjoyment of the garden on this Sunday aside, and write an analysis, while our million-dollar authors, academics, and politicians keep busy with trivial subjects…

In any case, I had been conducting research on the subject for a few days already for an interview I was going to have with Almanya’nın Sesi (Voice of Germany) on Wednesday, June 3rd.

The infrastructure for the article was ready, in other words.

A Cocktail of Immigrants

Ultimately, the US is a country that has been formed by immigrants who came from four corners of the world.

Most of those who came when it was a colony have their origins in Europe.

Among them, there are people who came over from Europe for religious freedom.

There are people who came over because of hunger and famine.

There are also others who escaped persecution.

In the time period from when it was a British colony until its independence, most of the immigrants who came to America were of European origin.

Since there was a lack of labor in the fertile American lands that produced the raw materials for Britain, slaves from Africa —and especially West Africa— were brought over.

The incoming black slaves were placed in large plantations as a means of production. They became part of the plantation and property of the plantation owner.

This soulless approach, which forgets that black people are human beings, continues to be the greatest social problem of the US.

Black People Have Left Their Mark on American History

In fact, the subtitle above is incomplete.

The phenomenon that has left its mark on American history is the difference in how black people are perceived in society.

In each country, the “Founding Fathers” are a taboo subject. They cannot be criticized easily. Anyone who tries would face a mass attack –this is true for the US, as well.

Those who founded the US were large plantation owners.

They were all Europeans and many of them were of British origin.

So why did they rebel against the British Empire?

According to official history, the rebellion begins with the Boston Tea Party, as a reaction to the taxes imposed by Britain on various goods, including tea…

However, there is another economic reason that is not discussed much, left untouched and unvoiced:

Britain passed a law that abolished slavery on imperial domains. This law applied to America, as well.

Karl Marx has some universal predictions that have been accepted, regardless of your opinion.

One them is the prediction, “Whoever controls the means of production, controls society!

Black people were a means of production for plantation owners…

The leader of the revolution and the first President, George Washington had hundreds of slaves. And a few young and beautiful slave women as mistresses

In short, the subject of what happens to black people plays a major role in the American Revolution and the foundation of the Republic.

The Second Major Turning Point in American History

So what is the second major turning point?

The Civil War.

Approximately a hundred years after the US was founded, the North and the South clashed.

The South was still a major agricultural zone, and utilized black people as slaves.

Whereas the North had begun industrialization, and utilized black people as workers.

For both sides, having black people work provided significant economic advantages.

In the South, enslaved agricultural workers were cheaper than free workers.

In the North, freed slaves as workers were cheaper than industrial workers.

Abraham Lincoln led the forces of the North.

They wanted the abolition of slavery; in essence, the abolition of black slavery.

The South objected to this demand. They wanted to “Continue with slavery…” because enslaved agricultural workers were more economical.

There were 180,000 black soldiers (10% of the total force) in the Union Army.

Whereas in the Confederate Army this number was negligible.

After four years of war and 600,000 deaths (in proportion to today’s population, it would be 6 million…) the North won the war and Lincoln passed the law from the Senate that abolished slavery, albeit with difficulty.

Today, you can still see the names of the President of the Confederate States and the Confederate generals on streets and schools, 15 kilometers south of Washington, D.C.

In short, these are still festering sores!

You can still see Donald Trump supporters and motorcycle riders with leather jackets waving the Confederate flag.

It is an ordinary sight.

The term “Yankee,” used by the southerners for northern soldiers has later become the nickname of American soldiers worldwide.

Now Let Us Focus on the Present

In my analysis on May 10th, where I sought an answer to the question, “Would There be Another Black Messiah?*” I had commented that the emerging unemployment could have just as negative an effect as the coronavirus on low-income sections of American society.

People are not stupid, they are aware of the situation.

There is no health insurance, and they are trying to make ends meet with a low income. There is uneasiness and “pent-up anger” in society.

Almost the entire lower class of society, black people first and foremost, feel like they are “expendable masses.”

All that was needed was a spark. And the spark that lit the fuse came from Minneapolis.

The American Police is not just the Police

For many years, there was a banner in front of the Istanbul Governorate. I do not know if it is still there!

In essence, it said, “I can forgive a thief, a murderer, even a prostitute. But I can never forgive one that attacks the police. An attack against the police indicates that the state is finished.” –Napoleon.

Policing is such a critical duty.

It is the embodiment of the delicate relationship between the force of the state and its citizens.

In Turkey, there is only one type of police, and it is directly attached to Ankara.

But the American Police is an entirely different creature.

In the US, there are roughly 900,000 police officers, and again roughly 18,000 institutions where they serve.

You read that right! 18,000.

First, there is the police of the Federal Government, which has authority over the entire country.

Each state has its own police force, and they are attached to the Attorney General of that state.

There are counties (no counterpart in Turkish!) that form the states, which are mini-states, and they have their own police force, attached to the president of that mini-state (County Executive).

In addition, each city has its own police force; they are attached to the mayor of the city –the most famous one being the NYPD.

In addition…

There are the Sheriffs.

There is the Park Police that guard the National Parks and monuments.

There is the transit police that work in subways.

There is the “US Capitol Police” that protects the Congress.

The list just goes on!

There are 3,000 “counties=mini-states” in 50 states in the US.

There you go, 3,000 police organizations.

More than a hundred cities have their own police force.

There are police forces for special services.

In short, there is every sort of police force and institution.

Things are at such a point where some of the smaller police forces are struggling to receive their salaries.

Both the black person and the police officer who caused the death of the black person in Minneapolis were working as guards for extra income at the same strip club where naked girls dance.

That police officer had been receiving a salary legally from the “Go-Go Bar” for 17 years.

This is the situation with the American Police.

Chaotic, different kinds of training, different weapons, different uniforms; in summary, different quality.

Now Let Us Talk About Blacks Who Wreak Havoc

The crime rate, especially among young blacks is many times over the national average.

Conduct a survey among Turks living in the US, and you will see; the majority think that blacks are lazy crime machines, and they have no sympathy for them.

Of course, to get such results, the survey would need to be anonymous.

The reasons for this perception among people are first-hand personal experiences, legal affirmative action for blacks, and so on.

In short, there are quotas for even an average black student to gain admission to the best universities.

There are quotas for promotion within government jobs.

Laws have paved the way for this.

What’s more, the best and most concrete example is Barack Obama.

Despite all this, the fact that blacks are still having such trouble and their tendency to commit crimes create resentment among many groups who came later (such as Turks who came to the US from Turkey).

However, we should also not forget this: Among blacks, there is an expectation of reparations on the subject of slavery, just as Germany did for Jews. But this dialogue has not gained much steam, yet.

The black youngster who steals shoes from the store he/she entered internally legitimizes what he/she did in the context of rights that had been stolen from his/her race for centuries.

Black mayors, politicians, former turnip-like (white on the inside, black on the outside) presidents like Obama, who are part of the system, condemn the violence and try to soothe the public.

We see that 23 cities have curfews declared. In 14 states, National Guard forces have been deployed on the streets. Many properties have been damaged or burned.

So the shoots of resentment have turned green among blacks yet again.

It is past time to confront the systematic racism and institutional discrimination that is being used against black people in the US.

We have ended up with the words of legendary black leader Malcolm X, who was killed in 1965: “The white man’s democracy is hypocrisy.”

I am at the end of my analysis, and I know there are many questions in your mind.

What will happen to Trump?

What will happen to the dollar?

Where is America headed?

There are all subjects for separate analyses, and I will cover them in the following days.

As of now, Trump is unable to perform successful crisis management.

Will he lose the elections? That is not certain, yet.

Do not forget my final point, either, because it will affect your daily life.

Trump has started an economic cold war between China and the US.

The US had social issues that it could utilize. And now, the Chinese have also acquired a new social wound they could utilize.

Engin Civan 

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