I didn't realize it, but things are just exactly like they were in 1968 ...

It is confusing to me why a person would make the argument that nothing has changed since 1968, especially one that lived through the change. They cannot mean that literally, it is just as difficult to be a Black American now as it was then.

I grew up wondering why family and friends would argue about Hank Aaron not legitimately earning the home run record - who cares what the banalities were, he his more home runs and he was the hitter I cheered for as a Braves fan. I never cheered for a segregated Crimson Tide team, by the time I was able to watch, dominant black athletes were a core component of the Tide's success. Hey, I know I was lucky, I saw enough of the slavery hangover but much less than the previous generation. 

Is it still harder to be born a Black American than white? As a generality, of course. I wish I wish I wish there was a way to shift the suffering and poverty and ensure every human could live up to their full potential for growth and love and satisfaction, safe and supported and healthy. As an officer in the US Navy I saw so many Black Americans do just that and it gave me hope and I silently cheered and as they created a good life for themselves. I worked shoulder to shoulder with so many fine humans of so many ethnicities and a broad spectrum of cultural history. I hope that some of my childhood classmates (elementary school in Alabama in the 70s) have done as well. 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/20/an_open_letter_to_stevie_wonder.html

The article points out:

In 2008 America elected – and in 2012 reelected – the nation’s first African American president.

Two months ago, a majority Americans voters cast ballots for a woman whose immigrant parents grew up on opposite sides of the globe under British rule: Donald Harris in Jamaica and Shyamala Gopalan in India. Their daughter, Kamala Harris, takes the oath of office tomorrow as vice president.

Two weeks ago, and for the first time, voters in Georgia sent a black man to the United States Senate. Martin Luther King would have certainly considered that progress: The new senator, Raphael Warnock, is the pastor at Dr. King’s iconic church.

In 2013, Tim Scott was appointed to fill Strom Thurmond’s old Senate seat. The following year, Sen. Scott won election in his own right, having become the first African American senator elected from the Deep South since Reconstruction. He did it by winning more than 60% of the vote.

From 2001-2005, Colin Powell served as the first African American secretary of state. He was succeeded by Condoleezza Rice, the first female African American secretary of state.

Michelle Obama has held the title of “the most admired woman in America” for three years in row. Oprah Winfrey has been on the list for 33 consecutive years.

Two decades ago, Robert Johnson, the CEO of Black Entertainment Television, became the first black billionaire.

Thank you Mr. Steele

 A writer I always look for, his stuff has a perspective like no other. 

This lack of victimization amounts to an “absence of malice” that profoundly threatens the victim-focused black identity. Who are we without the malice of racism? Can we be black without being victims? The great diminishment (not eradication) of racism since the ’60s means that our victim-focused identity has become an anachronism. Well suited for the past, it strains for relevance in the present.

Thus, for many blacks today—especially the young—there is a feeling of inauthenticity, that one is only thinly black because one isn’t racially persecuted. “Systemic racism” is a term that tries to recover authenticity for a less and less convincing black identity. This racism is really more compensatory than systemic. It was invented to make up for the increasing absence of the real thing.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-inauthenticity-behind-black-lives-matter-11606069287?mod=djemalertNEWS

What is a Racist?

The word used to me, in my understanding, someone who believes some races are inferior, less valuable, not fully human. Or, more simply, that some races are better suited to rule and some less so, never mind humans rights or the notion that all humans are created equal in rights. 

Now, the word seems to mean "you are not an American with black skin". Or, "you are white". 

This is a complex nuanced topic. I get the influence of the unconscious and the ways that even non-black in the US have unconscious or conscious negative associations with blacks based on distorted facts, inculturation by the dominant class, real and unfortunate experiences or poor parenting. 

It does not seem to be enough to be a person who treats other people well. One could do that and still be called a racist. The basis of the claim could be on some pretty spotty grounds. Taking an action to hurt another person is not a requirement to be termed a racist. One could even amass a life time of kindness to others, say the wrong thing, and all of a sudden be tossed in the pit of boiling racist tar and feathers. 

Life is plenty hard for any of us, essentially all the time. It is harder when the rules are changing this fast and for seemingly arbitrary reasons. 

https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/501857-am-i-racist