by Rev. Carroll Carter
Contributing Advisor to Radio Melrose 96.9 FM
America’s racial past has always shaped its present, even when the language changes to hide it. The same forces that once supported slavery, segregation, and discrimination now often appear in new forms and polite words. Instead of open racism, we now hear phrases like “law and order,” “school choice,” “culture wars,” or “voter security.” Yet underneath those new words, many of the same divisions and injustices continue. Let’s look at how this pattern shows up across America’s major systems — in economics, education, history, culture, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, entertainment, and even war.
In the past, racism in economics was clear—enslaved Africans worked without pay to build the nation’s wealth. After slavery, Jim Crow laws kept Black people in poverty through low wages, redlining, and job discrimination. Today, the language has changed to “free markets” and “personal responsibility,” but the effects remain. Neighborhoods of color are still denied fair loans, and wealth gaps between white and Black families have barely changed in decades. The racial past continues through unfair systems, not just racist words.
Segregated schools were once legal. Today, schools are “separate but unequal” again, but through different means. District funding based on property taxes means wealthy, mostly white areas have better schools, while poor, mostly Black and brown communities struggle. Politicians call this “local control,” but it produces the same racial outcomes. Meanwhile, efforts to teach full Black history are attacked as “divisive” or “unpatriotic,” showing how truth itself is being rewritten.
The story of America is often told as one of constant progress and freedom. Yet many voices—Indigenous, African American, Latino, and others—are left out or minimized. Today, debates over “critical race theory” or “book bans” continue the old struggle over whose story gets told. Culture wars are really battles over truth and memory. When the painful past is hidden, the same injustices are repeated.
Racialized labor-built America. From plantations to railroads to domestic service, people of color were the backbone of the economy. Today, many immigrants and Black workers still fill low-paid, high-risk jobs. They are called “essential workers,” but they remain underpaid and undervalued. The language of “flexible labor” or “gig work” often hides the same racial and economic inequalities.
Jim Crow laws were replaced by “tough on crime” policies. The words changed, but the results—mass incarceration and voter suppression—look familiar. Felony disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and limits on early voting often target the same communities once kept from voting outright. Modern racism hides behind the language of “safety” and “integrity.”
During slavery and segregation, religion was sometimes used to justify racial hierarchy. Today, some religious groups still defend inequality by promoting “traditional values” or “divine order.” But many others challenge this misuse of faith, reminding America that real spirituality calls for justice, love, and truth.
Racism has long been connected to control over sexuality—who could marry whom, or whose bodies were policed. Today, stereotypes about women of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people continue, often wrapped in moral or “family” language. These stereotypes maintain old power systems under new names.
Movies, music, and media often reinforce racial stereotypes even when pretending to celebrate diversity. Likewise, wars are often sold with words like “freedom” and “security,” while the poor and people of color do most of the fighting. The past repeats when those with the least power bear the greatest cost.
America’s racial past has not disappeared—it has been disguised. The challenge of our time is to uncover truth beneath the language. Honest education, fair economics, and courageous leadership can break the pattern. Until then, the racial past will remain our racial present, wearing a new face but speaking the same old story. The Prophet Isaiah asks, “Are you ready for the new thing?
