On Having a Conversation About Race
America is presently trying very hard NOT to have a conversation about race. The “conversation” ranges from “black is beautiful” to “don’t shame me for my white skin”. The political opportunists have invented a straw-man by elevating an obscure college-level examination of American race history, called Critical Race Theory (CRT) to an issue at school board meetings across the nation. We’re talking about “white privilege” while denying it exists. We’re defending unequal police treatment of black citizens, while the disparity keeps cropping up in questionable police shootings. We insist America is not racist, while white supremacy and race-based hate groups are now at the top of the most dangerous threat list. We are in denial of the obvious.

The motivation for racist deniers, are their own fears. First, is the fear of another political opportunistic theme song, the Great Replacement. “I’m not racist”, say many white folks, “I just think the country is better off run by white people”. Kind of a new version of “some of my best friends are black”. Another fear that is being stoked is about crime, violence and public safety. While most whites don’t live anywhere near the high crime areas of the impoverished inner city high-crime areas, they’ve been convinced they are in the middle of Afghanistan. If we tighten the oversight of our police and curb their license to respond with deadly force, the streets will run red with white blood. If you doubt that, just tune in to Tucker Carlson on Fox TV for a few minutes. Then there is the “slippery slope”. If whites concede to a history of American racism and the current inequities and disadvantages that racism plays out in the lives of our minority co-citizens, then we have to respond. We are resisting the old adage that the first step to any change is to recognize the problem.

Minorities, frustrated by too much rhetoric and too little change have ramped up their resistance. From a summer of “Black Lives Matter” protests (joined by lots of white folks), to the “say my name” campaigns, to “de-fund the police” and a call for “reparations”, the black community is tired of empty pandering. The nation’s increasing diversity has resulted in the election of a more diverse political leadership. That leadership is using its platforms and megaphones to demand we work on racism in a meaningful way. All of this scares the bejesus out of whites. For them its certification of the “Great Replacement”, and they’re convinced no good can come of that.

The inability to have a real two-way conversation, creates a very dangerous situation for the nation. It is driving some fearful whites into the extremist camps of white supremacists and fascists. Not people they would normally associate with or support, but more acceptable than facing up to the task of dealing with our social race dysfunction. Today’s Republican Party is quickly becoming a hodgepodge of people whose only real connection is based on the many facets of white fear. Powerful stuff.

We will have to have to make the “non-conversation” we’re having now a productive one. We are becoming more diverse. Our children are less inclined to “see” skin color and more receptive to diversity. Major issues like rational immigration rules, school curriculums, equal justice under the law, dealing with poverty, employment equity, and overall civic cohesion are currently festering and blocking our ability to collective address the global issues that threaten our very existence. Instead political opportunists are fixing elections and drive more whites into a racist-based fervor. Time to recognize the problem America and deal with both our past and today’s reality. It’s a much better strategy than the path to civil war that we are now headed down.

ihg 10-9-2021

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