Racism In Kevin Boyle's The Arc Of Justice

Boyle's the Arc of Justice is a tiring book to read. Only because of the way Kevin Boyle writes. Personal bias aside, Boyle does make a good point in saying that racism is a structural issue, yet it also is not just a structural issue. Racism is purely a hatred based entirely on one's ethnicity or heritage. Boyle fails to see that Racism comes from Hatred and Fear, and how both sides of the battlefield have no middle ground. Perhaps Boyle is saying Racism relative to structure because of the strict color lines in the city. But, racism goes far deeper than that.

When looking at the trial of Ossian Sweet, the defense was rather clueless about how the differences between the people of Garland Street and the Sweets could have been averted. Genuinely, the Sweets did try to protect themselves from the provocative throwing of rocks at their property. But, in a court of law, all the prosecution saw was murder. The racially divided city of Detroit still stands today of what racial boundaries can do to a city.

Ossian Sweet tried to push the color line in Detroit and was chased back by an angry dog. People worried mainly about how blurring the lines between White and African American territory would cause property values to plummet and destroy the community. This of course was a valid fear at the time because nobody liked the idea that they could wind up living next door to someone who did not share their skin color.

Fear is what caused the incident at Garland Street. It was not simply the idea of an African American moving into a White covenant, it was fear. Often times, the fear of another is what led to violent clashes like in the Detroit Race Riots of the 1960's. The only realitsic alternative to the violen...

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... the shooting. The issue that caused the events which transpired was not purely structural issue or a lack of tolerance, but that overwhelming fear and hatred causes pointless violence and makes both sides lose their humanity. Whites did not understand African Americans and vice versa. They were both afraid of what the other might do and because of it, they both suffered. This still happens today like how George Zimmerman was accused of killing Trayvon Martin because he was not the right color.

Albeit barbaric, any offense between Whites and African Americans typically is blamed on race. Zimmerman killed Martin because he was afraid of what might have happened. It was not a black and white issue, it goes deeper into thinking that the long lasting hatred between Whites and African Americans is bound to cause issues until the two can reach an understanding.