Few things could be more difficult. Complicated by decades of bad history and clouded by barriers of class and culture, the communication gap between black and white may be harder to bridge than those between men and women or parent and child. Even before conversation begins, communication is strongly influenced by experience. If one person has suffered racial injustice and another person has not, they may see and hear differently before the first word is uttered, experts in communication say. Stereotypes of how racial groups behave, and fear of saying the wrong things on volatile topics, clutter the talk more.
Breakdowns follow when what people say is discounted because of how they said it.
At some fundamental level, even well-meaning people eventually shut down, exhausted by talk they don't really understand. But I am encouraged that people are starting to discuss this issue at levels that we haven't heretofore seen. The mayor intends to form a special commission to examine the city's strained race relations. Communicate we must, he and others say, or the city risks more violence. We have no choice but to take what has happened and turn it into an opportunity.