In this, the second of a three-part article, I address more ways the nation’s original sin of slavery has endured over the years and continues to this day.

In “How the GI Bill’s Promise was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans,” Erin Blakeman wrote, “When lawmakers began drafting the GI Bill in 1944, some Southern Democrats feared that returning Black veterans would use public sympathy for veterans to advocate against Jim Crow laws. To make sure the GI Bill largely benefitted white people, the Southern Democrats drew on tactics they had previously used to ensure that the New Deal helped as few Black people as possible.”

Major league baseball, long considered America’s “national” pastime, did not allow black players until 1947 when Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Despite having to endure the abuse from players as well as fans, Robinson went on to be named the 1947 Rookie of the Year. By 1953 only six of the major league teams fielded black players. Our own Boston Red Sox did not integrate the team until 1959.

Speaking of baseball, the amazing Henry Aaron received death threats and hate mail as he neared Babe Ruth’s record number of 714 home runs. Aaron broke the record with his 715th home run on April 8, 1974. Reporters at the Atlanta Journal noted that people would often call them “n— lovers” for covering Aaron’s chase for the home run crown.

Several incidents led up to the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott (sparked by Rosa Park’s refusal to go to the back of the bus); the Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter sit-ins; and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr’s movement, highlighted by his famous “I have a dream” speech.

While the Civil Rights Act eliminated most forms of discrimination from a legal standpoint, it didn’t erase the racism issue. In 1968, George H.W. Bush ran the infamous “Willie Horton” ad, while campaigning against Mike Dukakis. That ad is now considered the most racially divisive ad in modern political history. In the process, the Republican Party discovered the political benefits of playing to the fears of white people. More on that later.

And then there’s the “justice” system. In its “Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System,” the Sentencing Project noted that, “The U.S. is a world leader in its rate of incarceration, dwarfing the rate of nearly every nation…..African Americans are more likely than white Americans to be arrested, once arrested, they are more likely to be convicted, and once convicted they are more likely to experience lengthy prison sentences.”

People who claim that America is not a racist nation need only talk to a few African-Americans about the discrimination they face on a daily basis to come to a different conclusion. African-American parents must give “the talk” to their daughters and sons (especially) about how to behave in public, lest they be arrested — or worse.

The Center for American Progress issued a report in December 2019 entitled, “African Americans Face Systemic Obstacles Getting Good Jobs Their report noted that, “African American workers regularly face higher unemployment rates than whites. There are several explanations for this. Blacks often face outright discrimination in the labor market. They also are less likely to attend and graduate from college, which stems from the fact that African Americans face greater financial barriers to getting a college education, ending up with more debt than white graduates and paying more for their loans. Yet even among college graduates, African Americans often face greater job instability and higher unemployment rates.”

In their article, “Are Emily and Greg More Employable that Lakisha and Jamal,” authors Marianne Bertrand and Sendhill Mullainathan wrote: “We responded with fictitious resumes to help wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers. Each resume is assigned either a very African-American sounding name or a very White sounding names. White names received 50 percent more callbacks for interviews.”

NOTE: Part III will conclude a discussion of the ongoing stain of America’s original sin.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.