You want me to agree that historically the Democratic party was the party of slave holders, segregationists, and racists? Done. I agree. And the housing laws and rules put in place in by the FDR administration were insidious, wrong, and have had horrible, lasting consequences.
How do you feel about Lee Atwater and the Southern Strategy?
Which party championed and passed the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, and in so doing, "lost the south for a generation?"
Which party desegregated the military?
Which party reacted to the 2013 Supreme Court decision invalidating Congress's continued finding of a need for pre-approval of voting law changes by instituting voting restrictions to "impose cures for problems that did not exist" which "target[ed] African Americans with almost surgical precision?" That wasn't 90 years ago, that was this decade.
Which party's leaders and spokespeople complained that President Obama was trying to give free stuff to black people?
Which party's leaders consistently target Black Lives Matter protesters rather than opening up a real dialogue about how we might address centuries of harm?
Now I'll give you a tougher one, because, it's an example of how difficult and nuanced the solutions to these problems can be.
Which party adopted "school choice" as a major party platform in the 1970s as a way to allow white parents to use public dollars to send their kids to segregated, private schools? How is that complicated? Because school choice, when it is used to address inequality--rather than reinforce racism--is a complicated issue. In some instances it provides real opportunity for traditionally disadvantaged groups that are not immediately available; at the same time, it often starves the remaining people--those who don't get that opportunity--of precious resources. This is a difficult issue; there is some good school choice; and there is some bad.
To address your point, yes education matters, a great deal, though education alone isn't a magic fix.
That gets to my fundamental view of these things: there is no simple solution. People who admit there is a real problem with systemic racism in this country will not immediately solve it. And well-meaning people who are trying to find solutions will make mistakes--and even good solutions will never be perfect for every situation. But it all has to start with admitting there is a problem; and part of admitting there is a problem is not blaming Black Lives Matter for highlighting the problem, but instead accepting that there is a very real, very current reason people are so angry.
