Racism...HEARD Of It?

TNC in his NY Times article breaks down racism as something less of inherent evil, and more of a tool for economic inequality:

The idea that racism lives in the heart of particularly evil individuals, as opposed to the heart of a democratic society, is reinforcing to anyone who might, from time to time, find their tongue sprinting ahead of their discretion. We can forgive Whitaker’s assailant. Much harder to forgive is all that makes Whitaker stand out in the first place. New York is a city, like most in America, that bears the scars of redlining, blockbusting and urban renewal. The ghost of those policies haunts us in a wealth gap between blacks and whites that has actually gotten worse over the past 20 years.

I think that's what he's saying anyway - I mean really, who has time to read and comprehend this kinda stuff? Mostly, I think it might correlate to something I wrote years ago on the subject, meaning I can try to make myself look good:

For instance, while obviously hideously MORALLY wrong, one can understand why it would be ADVANTAGEOUS to have slaves. I promise you there were people that were bothered by the idea of slavery, but took advantage of being able to have free labor in an agrarian economy. At least there could be an argument "yeah slavery is bad, but it sure helps us, don't it?" As wrong as it is, at least there is an advantage gained economically. Same with civil rights a century after the slaves were freed; sure it was WRONG to keep black people out of the "good ol' boys club," but it sure could come in handy for a white guy, couldn't it? Every black person was one less person to REALLY have to compete with in society; be it a job, school, etc. Again: wrong, but VERY handy. Babe Ruth playing in a league that didn't allow black people to play HELPED BABE RUTH; not allowing, say, Martians, wouldn't have made much of a difference.