America desperately needs a Truth and Racial Healing Commission

The misperception that racism is individual -- rather than systemic as well -- is one of our nation's most persistent and counterproductive myths. Institutionalized racism pervades nearly every system in the nation, including financial, educational, health, housing, criminal justice and voting. We must look beyond individual incidents and examine the systems and institutions that operate at the detriment of Black Americans and other minorities. This truth-seeking process has proven to be helpful elsewhere -- a number of academic studies have found that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa was instrumental in facilitating a political and social transition after apartheid. In the past three decades, at least 40 countries have created truth commissions of their own.

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