Guest Post - Beyond Discussion of Race?????

Beyond Discussion of Race?????

By Roberta

If there is one thing I learned in the 2008 Presidential election cycle it is that each generation thinks they are the first and only generation that are truly post-racial, anti-discrimination, and totally and completely without prejudice and further, that their elders and all previous generations are racists.

Obama's youthful supporters think they are morally superior to current and past generations because they are not racist. And they prove that by constantly calling just about everyone else a racist. Obama's youth believe that they are the only generation to deal with race, racism, and discrimination in this country, ever.

I don't know what schools are teaching these days, but based on the inaccuracies spouted by many, it certainly is not the real history of the fight for racial equality in this country.

As I wrote in Moving On, While Not Forgetting, America's racial history and movement toward equality for all, "has been slow, plodding, and imperfect."

But a history DOES exist. Even before the American Revolution, Rhode Island banned the import of slaves, and by 1786 all of the colonies except Georgia at least limited the import of slaves.

In 1787 the Northwest Ordinance banned expansion of slavery north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. Following the American Revolution many states banned slavery and freed blacks. Many individuals wrote anti-slavery publications and in 1833 William Lloyd Garrison founded The American Anti-Slavery Society. Between 1833 and 1852, when Uncle Tom's Cabin was published, there were many people discussing and working to end slavery and discrimination.

Moving into modern history FDR, HST, DDE, JFK & RFK, and LBJ all discussed race relations with the American people and worked to pass civil rights legislation, and the courts concurred with these landmark pieces of legislation. A lot of civil and uncivil discussions about race occurred during this time period.

In the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and the 1960's many whites marched along side blacks, especially white religious leaders. Many were beaten, shed blood and or died for that cause. In the summer of 1964 three white activists working in Mississippi, Andrew Goodman, James Cheney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered for registering black people to vote.

Many American citizens have been discussing inequalities, listening to black people, and working to achieve racial equality throughout all of our history. I don't want to write a comprehensive history lesson here, I am only trying to illustrate that there has always been ongoing discussions of race relations in this country. Every generation in America has dealt with and held discussions about and have listened to, as Matt so poignantly writes "...black people's view of race..."

When I first began teaching in the late sixties and in the early seventies, and as my school district moved to integrate first the staff and then the schools themselves I was part of many discussion groups where blacks and whites shared histories and visions for the future. We shared cultural values and norms. I was a member of my church's committee on racial equality and was their representative to my city's committee on racial equality. Again, I both discussed and listened to..."black people's view of race..."

But now I have to ask, what is the point? Do you want me to do more listening? Why? Why do I have to listen to and participate in more discussion? I am not into self-flagellation for the past sins of others just for the sake of discussion. Haven't we moved beyond the talking about race stage? And if we haven't moved beyond the talking phase, why haven't we?

Shouldn't we move to another or different level on the race issue? I thought I had. I live in a multi-cultural neighborhood. I like and want that. The nation just elected its first black President. We have come a long way in just my brief lifetime. I saw a cross burning on the block I lived on at age six, and today we have a black President. I daresay a lot of discussion has taken place to get to this point in history.

What else am I supposed to do?

When do we move beyond race and racial grievances? When do we move above it all?

Are we afraid to move beyond just discussing, "people's views of race"? Are we afraid to go beyond racial grievances? Are we afraid to talk about poor education? Are we really afraid to talk about high crime rates? Do we continue to ignore low aspirations?

If he were a leader, and if he really cared for black people, Obama himself could have moved the discussion beyond the racist and victim meme to a higher plane. To say I am disappointed he did not is an understatement and contributed to why I could not vote for him. He used racism as a cheap political ploy.

So now I have to ask: Isn't it time for a new agenda? Isn't it time to move to a higher plane?

Someone please explain, discuss, and answer those questions.