That means the white people who have always had that power, and have always had their say, need to shut up and step back. Because they've already failed, over and over and over and over, to fix this problem. And that seems a reasonable observation, to me.
It's not about torn ACLs. It's about the white people in power persistently failing to fix a problem that was not hurting them, but has been hurting people of color for a very long time.
I don't know if it's as simple as "white people have always had the power" and should therefore "shut up and step back." Races are not monolithic groups where every individual is the same or has the same level of wealth and power. If you substitute the term "wealthy" for "white" in your sentence above, then it would read "wealthy people have always had their say and need to shut up and step back." That would probably be more accurate.
As far as the basic problem and those with the power to fix it are concerned, I've seen over the course of my life that most people (of all races)
want to fix the problem. At least that's what they say, that's what the schools have been teaching, and that's the message of the mainstream media, academia, and the major political parties. Except for an infinitesimally small extreme minority of hardcore racists, nearly every white person in America falls all over himself to say "I'm not a racist." Even Trump says "I'm not a racist."
So, you have the vast majority of the US population ostensibly wanting to fix the problem. Pretty much every outlet in the mainstream media, everyone in academia, and the leadership of both major political parties - all claiming overwhelming support in wanting to fix the problem. This has been going on over the course of my entire life. We've also had landmark Supreme Court decisions, far-reaching acts of Congress (Civil Rights Act), the ending of segregation, and an active effort to change societal attitudes and perceptions about race.
Anyone who makes an openly racist remark - or even if they've been outed over something they said or did decades ago - they can expect to be skewered in the media and publicly tarred and feathered. This has been going on since at least the 1980s, exemplified by the infamous firing of Jimmy the Greek for being caught on camera making racist remarks.
You are correct that white people, by and large, have held the power in this country, but the whites who have been in power consider themselves "woke" and anti-racist. Because of this, they've apparently felt some sort of moral obligation to police other whites, restrain them from acting racist, and/or quash their malignant, toxic ideologies. It's just like the white executives at CBS sent the message when they fired Jimmy the Greek; they're trying to prove to the world that they're doing their part to rid this society of racism.
Yet here we are, decades later, and people are lamenting that the problem still hasn't been solved. From what you're saying, you seem to imply that the white people in power benefit from white privilege and therefore may have a conflict of interest. They may not
really have any stake in wanting to end the problem of racism in this country, so all they're really doing is paying lip service and pretending to address the problem. Would that be an accurate assessment?
I'm not sure what the solution might be, but it does seem clear that whatever methods, strategies, and actions to fight racism in this country aren't really working very well. Maybe they were never intended to work, which would mean that all these white liberals and progressives who think they're "woke" probably aren't. They've been tricked and duped, and they don't even realize it. Many of them are still in denial, and we can even see examples of it here on RF.
Throughout all this, people of color have not been
completely powerless, nor have they been silent. There are those who have had some measure of influence and power, at least in terms of being a part of the national dialogue on race. While it's true that whites have held most of the power, there are some vocal minorities whose voices are being heard. This also becomes a part of the narrative, especially since the OP's view has been echoed frequently with the idea that "if you haven't walked in the shoes of a person of color, you don't know what it's like."
But even that idea can backfire, since Trump has Black supporters, too. They can trot them out and say "There you see? There's a Black person supporting Trump. See? They're Black! And they say that all you white liberals and progressives are full of crap." They can also point to Biden's statement that if any Black person doesn't support him "You ain't Black."
This brings us to what may be closer to the core of the problem, the nature of politics in the United States. Politics is a corrupted, unscrupulous money game. What ends up happening is that people of all colors and creeds end up getting duped, tricked, and manipulated. We've had politicians who are people of color. We've had a Black president. But all of these politicians, regardless of their race, are still products of political machines and the corrupted system. I'm not claiming that they're puppets, but as with anything, if you give someone a stake in the game, then they're going to play it.
I think the only real solution will come with a complete restructuring of our political and economic system. In a way, we almost have to start over completely from scratch, at least in terms of examining the ideas, principles and attitudes upon which America was founded. I don't think it's wise to consider breaking up the country or anything like that; we can still maintain ourselves as an independent geographical entity and retain the infrastructure and resources necessary for the survival of the people. But we can't keep thinking of ourselves as "Europe Junior." We have to give up on American exceptionalism as well, in addition to Manifest Destiny, American Dream, Shining City on the Hill - all that crapola has to be flushed down the toilet. It was all propaganda anyway; it never reflected the reality of this country.
Another thing that might be mentioned is that, on a geopolitical level, our national origins are more closely paralleled by other former European colonies which also revolted against their rulers and formed independent governments, such as Mexico and many other nations in Latin America. However, our relations with our neighbors to the south have also been problematic, relating to the same problems of racism and imperialism which seem to never go away. But there's also an enormous potential if all of the peoples of the Americas could join together, unify, and pool their resources and manpower. America really can become great, and we wouldn't have to worry about China or Russia or NK or Iran. "White" people might become a numerical minority, and those who cling to the idea of "English only" might have to fall by the wayside. We would be a multilingual, multiracial, and multicultural country, but we could handle it. The benefits could really be worth it in the long run.
I think that's probably one way the problem could be solved. I don't really think it's because "white people don't know what it's like" or that the white people in power are all secretly racists to the core. Maybe some are, but I think most people in power are probably focused more on money and greed than wasting much time or energy on some racist agenda.
I honestly don't believe most whites in power are actively hating Black people; it's more a matter of passive indifference while publicly paying lip service to the cause of Black Lives Matter. However, I actually believe the problem is rooted in the kind of Eurocentric thinking that has dominated American political thought from the very beginning. Even white people who consider themselves enlightened and are basically good people with good intentions, they can't seem think outside of that box. Ideologically, we've painted ourselves into a corner, and we can't figure out what to do.
