This has been the same struggle since the writing of the Constitution. They allowed special privileges for the slave owners otherwise some states would not have joined the union. Those states left the union during the Civil War. The lost the war but it is now clear they won the issue.

The real problem is not racism, but how the rich and powerful use racism and the fear of all the “others” : foreigners, Jews, Muslims, women, LBGTQ folks — in order to get enough white people to support the policies that favor a few rich white people.

However, this has been true since humans became an agrarian society. The rich had the land, the wealth, and the power. Everyone else worked for them.

There are very few examples of equalitarian societies. Right now, you have the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand making a real effort. But those do it best when the population is homogeneous. Even Sweden is having trouble as more refugees of color come up there to work.

Money buys power that protects the money to buy power.

There have been very few benevolent despots. Most have been oppressive and cruel, with the only goal of staying in power: see Russia, Iran, North Korea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mianmar, China, U.S. Republicans ….