If I were to point out the fact that the minimum wage in this country was originally specifically fought for by white racists trying to keep black people priced out of the work force, would any of you view that as a compelling argument against raising the minimum wage now?
Of course you wouldn't. It's a dumb argument.
But, it's an argument that a lot of people are trying to make about institutional and systemic racism in the USA and why we need to overhaul our instructions. Namely the argument is that if it was once a racist intuition, or it was founded by racists, or it was associated with racists, or racists once pushed a policy because they thought it would help their cause, it's forever damaged.
Well, great, let's join forces in order to end the Federal Reserve. That was founded by the biggest racist piece of shit president since the Civil War. No takers? No Dennis Kucinich fans?
I'm seeing this all the time. Opponents for school vouchers keep trying beat the drum that some advocates for school vouchers supported them to try to keep schools segregated. Yeah, some did - not most a definitely not all. Most of us are trying to push for school vouchers precisely to achieve better integration.
The point is that anybody who knows history can find an example of how the policies you like have racist origins or had racist supporters.
The thing is, it doesn't occur to some of us point that out as a cheap means of debate because, well, it's a cheap tactic and it doesn't make a valid argument.
The effects that policies have on a country can change as the culture changes.