US founded on notion of white supremacy: Mickey Z.

An American novelist and political commentator says the United States was founded on the notion of white supremacy and this is why the people in power are still continuing to demonize people of color.

Michael Z. Zezima, better known by his pen name of Mickey Z., who is a writer, editor, blogger and novelist living in New York City, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

An internal inspection shows US police officers in Los Angeles, California, engage in the racial profiling of individuals while conducting a controversial surveillance program.

An audit from the city’s inspector general’s office shows that police officers are more likely to target minorities when filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR).

“I would address this issue from my own perspective, which is a white American male with all the privileges that entails,” Mickey Z. said, “because I believe the elite in the US desperately fear solidarity amongst the masses, because people know what’s going on, and they fear that solidarity.”

“They soothe the white in this country with talk of things like post-racial and colorblind when in reality the United States was founded on white supremacy and those in power use centuries of this conditioning to continue to demonize people of color, and keep us in the masses from checking our privilege and creating a kind of unity that creates change,” he added.

“So when it comes to the police, ultimately what they are doing is their job; their job is to serve power. It’s no surprise, when they perform in a way that demonizes people of color and utilizes racial profiling as policy,” he noted.

Police brutality as well as the racial profiling of some minorities by law enforcement agencies has become a major concern in the United States.

The killing of several unarmed black men by white police officers in recent months and decisions by grand juries not to indict the officers triggered large-scale protests across the US.

There is also widespread racial disparity in the US criminal justice system. According to a study by the Sentencing Project research group, one in three black males are likely to be sentenced to prison sometime during their life. The figure for white men is one in 17.

“I encourage people very much so to protest this behavior,” said Mickey Z.  “But also recognize that this is purpose of the police.”

“If you  aren't a person of color, then we need to check our privilege; we all need to recognize and appreciate differences without assigning privilege to them and create community from the bottom up which can then make police obsolete,” he stated.

“So, yeah let’s make our voice heard and protest and expose those who are responsible for these criminal activities amongst the police. But the bigger picture is to create unity, is to understand how we are being conditioned and how to break free of that conditioning and to think big picture before it’s too late,” concluded the author of Occupy this Book.

GJH/GJH

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