The Race Myth

I’ve spent much of my life being the only black person in the room. I spent most of my childhood speaking for the entire race, never mind that if you asked I’d tell you that I’m West Indian, Colombian, Venezuelan and a few other things. I get it. I look Black, enough said.  I abhorred those conversations. They taught me a lot about how I think, how other people think. The things we say when we’re unsure how people will receive it. I doubt anyone ever realized how uncomfortable I was with it. It’s a big job speaking for all Black people. I always questioned if my answers helped or hurt. However, this is one of the few times in my life I’m relishing the opportunity to do just that. Speak on behalf of all Black people that is….
We’ve watched many of the “crazies” find their way out from under the proverbial rock and spout off at the mouth lately. Let’s start with Walter Block of Loyola University, whose comments about Black families being better off during slavery, were beyond shocking. Then there was the always egregious ramblings of Ann Coulter, happy to tell the world the only racists she knows are Liberals. The prize had to go to George Will for the “we can’t fire Obama because he’s Black” argument for why Romney isn’t winning in the polls. This is lunacy. This is craziness. This is disgusting… this is distorted.
The problem with distorted is that it usually starts out with some modicum of truth. Even though, each of these instances involves racism somewhere, they also involve information that if brought up by the sane and rational thinkers of our society just might help us heal from our wounds and build a post color America.
The question of why the African-American family unit has largely been in shambles is a valid one. Block didn’t invent the statistics, just used them in a way that was more offensive than it was probative.  The premise is worth exploring. We know that a high school education and marriage are the best predictors of financial solvency. There’s enough evidence that the Sexual Revolution and ‘Free Love’ had a damning effect on Black families. So did the drug laws of the 1980’s. If you happened to have caught Blocks’ interview, you would have noticed that Fox pulled the plug on him immediately when he mentioned decriminalizing drug sales.  Why not question a system that is dependent on being a single mother? Reform would make sense in decreasing the number of families on welfare. So would incentivizing marriage, build in a work to replacement threshold. Families would have the opportunity to remain on the program provided they are employed or enrolled in job training for a predetermined amount of years.
They can do so until they are earning the equivalent of their program benefits, ensuring that families that come off welfare stay off welfare.
You have to give Ann credit. It takes a tremendous amount of “brass” to say the things that come out of her mouth. To her credit, party affiliation did switch. Dixiecrat was a real thing.  Racism was at home in the Democratic Party long before it took up residence in the GOP.  Of course, that begs their motives be questioned. The beauty of populous movements is that they are constantly morphing, or at least that’s the line they keep trying to sell about Mormonism and its declaration of the sudden equality of Blacks. Assuming Black America is under the mistaken and obnoxiously paternalistic view that there are no racists in the Democratic Party would be flat-out ridiculous. There was an actual culture of Neo-Con Black Conservatives. I was one and, we already know what happened with that. (See “What the Right gets Right”) But I don’t consider myself a Democrat. I vote Democrat because of policy, not handouts.
The fact is that I can understand how George Will drew his conclusion. I don’t know anyone who wants to be labeled “racist”. With so many unresolved issues surrounding race and our country, I’d be even willing to give him some latitude about it. It wasn’t exactly crazy to think that not wanting Obama re-elected if you’re White might look that way.  It assumes more than that. It assumes that we are willing to accept underperformance because we believe Black is a deficiency. That somehow at a core level we expect incompetence. We gave it the “old college try”. It didn’t work, let’s not do that again. Full blown confirmation bias, I already thought it was true, now I know it is. It is an unfortunate side effect of politically correct. We’ve just become uncomfortably silent.
I assure you that I haven’t gone off the deep end. The notions of how most Black people see race and racism are horribly inaccurate. We’re not interested in debating its existence; we want to have a real conversation about its impact. We’re not looking for handouts, restitution, or 40 acres and a mule. We want to build restoration for our families, our communities and bridges to other communities, based in shared priorities and common goals. So let me say it once and for all. Black Americans, Black people in general and I would even venture that ALL people of color are not interested in having White people apologize for being White. We don’t see it as a privilege, nor do we see color as a deficiency. We are interested in addressing a history of policy that has created privilege out of color and rectifying the impact of blindly ignoring what centuries of dogma creates. We are evolved enough to admit, face and deal with our own complicity. Stop it with the “White Guilt” or subscribing to the notion that it’s what anyone is after. Instead, join those of us Black, White, Hispanic, Asian and everything else that have committed to being part of the solution.