(Newsone)–“A couple of videos have recently started floating around the interweb that show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking to a room full of Black people about racism. The video clips are actually from Feb. 1, when the Kennedy 2024 campaign kicked off Black History Month by hosting a panel discussion at the Artlounge Collective in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles. RFK, who is a Democrat running as an independent in the 2024 presidential race, offered his insight on issues such as environmental racism and medical discrimination, but the part of his lecture (which is, indeed, what it appeared to be) that has drawn new attention on X shows the 70-year-old whitesplaining to Black people that education is the key to making Black people “immune” from racism, and, well—I have some thoughts.
Then RFK gets into this weird thing where he appears to be trying to equate discrimination he has faced in America as a person of Irish-Catholic descent to what Black people have faced and still face, and, yeah, I need him to be less white. First of all, RFK grew up white, well off and in a family full of some of the most well-known and revered elected officials in American history. I need him to stop pretending any discrimination he faced was comparable to what Black people have and still face. (Although, I must admit I’d never heard the anti-Catholic slur “mackerel snatcher,” and now I’m genuinely curious about the origin of that one.) It’s like: Sir, you are rich, white and a Kennedy, so, yes, I imagine anti-Irish Catholic slurs didn’t have much of a chilling effect on you.
Secondly, when it comes to the devastating effects systemic racism has on Black people, racial slurs are really the least of it. If the most discrimination RFK faced was bigots saying mean things to him (unless you’re just willing to take it at face value that the KKK was burning crosses on his family’s lawn), he got light work. Black people, on the other hand, have to deal with actual statistical racial disparities (in housing, employment, education, policing, redlining, etc.) that affect us in ways that can’t be solved by simply shouting, “MORE EDUCATION!” This leads me to my final point: The idea that education will make Black kids or Black people in general immune to racism is absurd. For example, as important as a good education is, cops don’t check our high school and college transcripts before racially profiling or brutalizing us. It certainly won’t make us the Avengers. (I honestly don’t have the bandwidth to get into the patronizing tone of that reference.)”
Just as Donald Trump’s unhinged speech to an audience of Black Conservatives felt extremely prejudicial and littered with racist undertones. We have another rich white guy from a prominent family telling black folks how to “deal” with racism. Only this time it was RFK Jr. who was white-mansplaining to potential black voters. On how he dealt with the negativity of being from a political dynasty. As if there’s any correlation between racism in America and the schoolyard teasing he faced.
In the black community, the Kennedy family has always had strong support. So it appears the outcast of the Kennedys is attempting to cash in on his family’s political popularity and influence. By specifically targeting the black population to spread his racially charged anti-vax rhetoric. Yet his out-of-touch views on racism should be far more concerning to potentially supporting minority groups.
RFK Jr appears to throw his hands up in defeat as if institutionalized racism is something the black community should just learn to deal with. Instead of being a conduit for change and having actual policy recommendations to remedy the racial disparities throughout government and the judicial system. He says the only way to combat racial inequality and injustices is to be educated. As if the educational system doesn’t have its own set of institutional prejudices. Having a family fortune as RFK Jr grew up with, can put blinders to the realities lower-class families face in their educational journey. Getting the best education possible comes at a price that most people can’t afford. So if that’s the only way black children can be “immune” from racism as RFK Jr ignorantly says. Well, most children aren’t afforded such luxuries so what is their solution for combatting racial discrimination?
Of course, education is a key component of having a better life for you and your future generations. However, labeling it as the ultimate cure-all for the devastating effects of institutional prejudices and personal attacks by racists. Uncovers a level of ignorance and privilege by RFK Jr that contradicts his claims that he understands the plight of the black experience. The only true way to find solutions for minority communities is to listen to their concerns and struggles. Give them a voice in repairing the problems and issues they face daily.
Just telling people to educate themselves and “All will be fine” only belittles someone’s intelligence. It marginalizes the existing scope and efforts to eradicate systemic racism. If your advice boils down to “If you were smarter, then racism wouldn’t bother you as much.” It’s condescending at best, an example of just how delusional and inappropriate RFK Jr has been throughout his campaign. When your level of racial sensitivity is on par with Trump. It highlights RFK Jr’s lack of leadership, vision, and policy initiatives. He certainly has fallen far beneath the great Kennedy legacy once admired throughout minority neighborhoods. If RFK Jr continues to spread his moronic views on race and other pressing issues. The Kennedy name, a historic political juggernaut, could only be further diminished by the current family member’s campaign of nonsense.
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