The "Call" by some for a discussion on race in this country since Obama was elected and particularly after the Trayvon Martin verdict seems to me a bit naive. After all, what is it that whites--the ones who are suppose to learn from this discussion--not know about racism in American society? They know we once enslaved black people and then developed Jim Crow after they were freed; that we took the Southwest from Mexico because we saw them as unfit to occupy the land; that we interned Japanese Ameicans because of xenophobia and in order to take away their property, and that profiling is something that policemen do all the time. Conservative politicians know all of this and they still block any kind of civil rights legislation that comes their way, and they promote voter IDs to limit minority voting and most of their "budget cuts" come on the backs of people of color.
Do those advocates for a "discussion on race" really think that the people at the Weekly Standard, Fox News, or that Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck are really going to change their views about people of color? Do they believe that those who fear Latinos taking their job are going to call for the legalization of 11 million of them, or that they will be happy having them sing the national anthemn at sporting events? Do they believe that Republican House members are going to change their voting habits if they "knew" that American society is still a society based on some elements of white supremacy?
In our divided society, there are many on the wrong side of the race issue and a large number of others who remain "neutral" because they fear true equality means losing the advantages that white supremacy provides them even if they do find those advantages distasteful. Talking about it will change few of those.
We don't need a discussion on race. We need jobs, real affirmative action, better housing for the poor, better education--which neither side seems to understand how to get--legalization and a host of other things. People will be treated as equals once they are actually equal in many of the things that society considers important for the exercise of citizenship.
Republicans had their "discussion on race" when it came to Latino voters and so far the only thing it did was to rile up the racists and the Latino-haters in the party to become even more resistant to immigration reform. The party of stupid only became...
Democrats are not blameless given how they made sure that in their version of immigration reform businesses get most of the benefits, future "legal" Latino workers get even less protections than they do now, and the president continues to deport them in record numbers, and break-up families by the hundreds of thousands. When the president asked Senator Schummer to head the immigration reform efforts for Democrats, it became clear to many of us that it would turn out to be a bonus for businesses on the back of workers.
We don't need a discussion on race, what we need is for those who believe in the progress of people of color to work harder, compromise less on fundamental rights, and put forward legislation that will make this country better. If we are going to have a discussion on race let's have it on the senate and house floors, but let it be about legislation that actually makes a difference and not water-down bills that continue to keep people of color as second-class citizens.
And those who proclaim themselves as leaders of our communities need to come up with better ideas and stop simply creating "show" to get themselves on cable news, and get jobs as punditry. Much of the old civil rights establishment has run out of ideas, and while some deserve to be honored for their past accomplishment, as a group they are becoming irrelevant except to get their friends and family jobs. We need leaders with character who are not willing to settle for "the best at the moment". There has not been a single piece of legislation in the last decade that has not been mostly compromised away. We need new rules in the Senate to stop making compromises that protect one party or another when they are in the minority. We need to force senators to actually filibusters instead of threatening to do so. We need the House to have rules that allows pieces of legislation that have a lot of support to be voted on.
We need to develop a new re-districting plan for congressional districts that do not gerrymander to keep one party in power. And we need to change the way we celebrate American holidays so that they reflect the truth about our history and not venerate mostly one group of people.
In the process of doing all of that we will get our "discussion on race" in America but it will actually mean something and not be just another naive attempt to bring people together who have actually chosen not to come together. I believe in "coming and reasoning together" but I also believe that the process is not more important than making a difference in the lives of people who truly need help. Those who over-emphasize the process believe in a mediocre version of democracy and equality.
