We need to have a conversation about race. Heard that one before?
The reason we keep hearing about it is because it’s a critically necessary step in the way civil societies settle things. But for some reason, we keep falling short on implementation. Locally and nationally.
The problem, in short, is that in order to have a meaningful conversation, conversing parties have to be honest. Without undermining respect. And be good listeners. And earn trust. It’s a tall order. Nobody’s without blame and baggage in black and white America.
We’re more comfortable with nuance-free bumper stickers and pithy signage. “Black Lives Matter,” which sounds like cherry-picking, and “It’s Not About Race,” but it sometimes is. We’re more inclined to listen to partisan talking heads that represent validation within our own tribes. We have town hall gatherings that come from a good place but grandstanding typically carries the day. Nobody wants to be scapegoated or stereotyped or showcased as the problem.
Arguably–and ironically–the election of an African-American president may have been more contretemps than clarification. It prompted intimations of “post-racial” America. It’s been no such thing. More like an historic anomaly. See recent POTUS Twitter feedback for an update.
We’re post-Jim Crow America, but we’re not “post-racial” America. No more than we’re “post-Baltimore” America.
To get there–in a multi-hued society that grows increasingly diverse–we’ll need more than dialogues and conversations. But, yes, it needs to start there. And, yes, all the relevant issues, even those typically not uttered outside cliques and clans, need outing.
What makes a bigoted cop? How is he or she different from their hard-nosed, crime-busting colleagues? How thin is that line? Cops too often see the bad in society. They note patterns. They hear the complaints of vulnerable residents. But they can’t pre-judge; they can only be pro-active. How hard is that?
Does generational poverty allow for self determination? Are such embedded conditions a determinant in crime or simply a factor? Are victimized communities also enablers? Is a no-snitch ethos more understandable in a minority subculture than it is deplorable?
Who’s more of a condemnable stereotype, the racist cop or the young thug? Does it matter?
What message are we sending when we countenance academic excellence among African-American students as “acting white”? How much of a factor is that in creating de facto segregation within integrated schools?
Is “meritocracy” a cover for white favoritism and elitism? Is it at odds with equal opportunity? Is differentiating equal opportunity and equal results fair?
And more. But this could get us started.