A year ago, someone asked me what does the national dialogue about the role of race and racism that I advocate look like. My response is below: hmmm... I think it would have to look something like our national leaders (especially white) starting the conversation, the media attaching to it, then social media taking off, then all sorts of inappropriate articles written by students (college and high school) in school papers, then administrators having to hold large conversations/panel in auditoriums and requiring home room/civics/history teachers or Resident Fellows (in the case of those living in dorms) to have smaller more intimate discussions. Likely talking points: Whites: Im not racist; slavery was so long ago; shouldnt have to pay the price of what my ancestors did, if you work hard enough then you can do anything Chinese/Japanese: Im not racist; slavery was so long ago; if you work hard enough then you can do anything; my family came here with nothing and weve been able to move up; in the past we were discriminated against too but look what weve been able to become (wont mention the reparations the Japanese received or how the model minority places into them benefiting from racism) Middle-class Blacks/Latinos: if you work hard enough then you can do anything; I made it, so can you if you just try hard enough; the poor are poor because they choose to stay poor (wont recognize how things like Affirmative Action have helped them move along; wont understand that theyre being able to rise is legitimizes false notions of meritocracy; wont understand that exceptionalism doesnt equal equity/equality) (Good video on Black exceptionalism: youtube/watch?v=ay0tKg9DyEw) Poor Black, Latinos (and even some whites): will probably likely blame themselves for their plight (wont fully understand how the odds are stacked up against them) Wed then need moderators who are educated on institutional racism, history (to discuss slavery, Jim Crow, the GI Bill, white flight, etc), contemporary racism (e.g. employment discrimination, predatory sub-prime lending practices, over policing of community of colors, wealth gaps). Equally important, moderators will not just talk about how the aforementioned keep certain groups down; theyd highlight how society is structured to give advantage to particular groups (THIS IS KEY). Ideally those moderators would come from a variety of backgrounds; if its just Black people pointing out the injustices, it wont be heard; we need white moderators/advocates. During or after this national conversation, Washington will be trying to put certain policies that remedy our racial inequities into place. Lol.. Im so idealistic... How do we get our national leadership to talk about racism is really the question? When Newtown happened, everyone went on this we need to have a national conversation on mental health and gun safety path. When Chris Dorner happened (the LA cop who went killing folks), no mention of a national conversation on the psychological impacts of racism even though in Dorners manifesto he explicitly talks about the racism he experienced and how it figured into him doing what he did. My fear is that the only way for this conversation to really take place is under extreme unrest, i.e. rioting & violence. And even if rioting and violence was to take place, are people going to have a productive conversation or will anger and fear prevent understanding? Do you think racism is really as big of a deal as I do? If not, what do you think needs to happen to address the economic/education/employment disparities? Even if you and I have differing opinions on these matters, your willingness to engage is beyond appreciated!
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:49:17 +0000
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