Gregory Freeman: Differences - In Black And White. P-D 9/27/1991

Headline: DIFFERENCES - IN BLACK AND WHITE
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri., Sept. 27, 1991
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 1B, Edition: FIVE STAR

MORE THAN ONE white reader has written me to say they believe that black people are whiners - people who exaggerate about how difficult life is for them, presumably to get sympathy from whites.
Blacks are treated the same as whites, they say. Why do blacks continue to complain about discrimination? they ask. After all, slavery ended more than 100 years ago, and lynchings are hardly common in 1991.

With any luck, many of those readers - and others as well - had an opportunity to watch the program ''Primetime Live, '' which was scheduled to air Thursday night on ABC.

The program featured a segment in which two men - one black, one white - came to St. Louis to investigate how much difference color makes in everyday America.
Other than their race, the men's backgrounds were virtually the same. They were both from Chicago and had grown up in the Midwest. They both had gone to Big 10 schools. Both grew up in middle-class families and even played on the same softball team. Both men were the same age.

The first thing they did upon arriving here was to go to a shopping center. There, they visited several departments at a major store. When the white man, John Kuhnen, went to the electronics counter of the store, he got almost instant service. But when the black man, Glenn Brewer, went up to the same counter a few minutes later, he was ignored - not by one, but two salesmen who were standing nearby.
That could have been a fluke. But it happened again and again. Kuhnen went to a shoe department and got instant attention and a hearty welcome. But when Brewer walked in minutes later, the same salesman ignored him. The same thing happened at a car dealership.

When they visited a record store, Brewer found himself being tailed by a salesman. The salesman never offered to help him. Instead, he followed him throughout the store. He never tailed Kuhnen.
On another occasion, both men were locked out of their cars, 40 feet away from each other. A crowd of whites helped Kuhnen get into his car, while not a soul came to Brewer's aid.
There was more. At a car dealership, Kuhnen was told he could buy a car with almost nothing down, while Brewer was told he'd need at least $2,000 down to buy the same car. Nearly the same thing happened when they visited another car dealer.

The most blatant incident occurred when the two went apartment hunting. At one apartment, Kuhnen was given a relaxed description of the area, and was told about churches and schools nearby. Brewer, on the other hand, was told by the manager: ''I'm strict, I'm tough, I use whatever I have to enforce my lease.'' He was said he wanted to keep his building clean, because it was not ''a ghetto.''
At another apartment, the manager seemed friendly enough to Brewer. But after he left and Kuhnen arrived, the manager told him it was a pretty good neighborhood, ''but they're moving in. Just showed this apartment to one a while ago.''
At yet another apartment, Kuhnen was told that an apartment was available, while Brewer was told it had been rented that morning.

There were other examples, but the program made its point: that there is racism in America, and it's alive and well. It's not always the cross-burning, sheet-wearing type of racism. In fact, that type of racism is rare. But it's still there, taking on different forms.

The program probably opened few eyes among African-Americans who watched it. What happened to Brewer happens to many blacks. It doesn't happen all the time, nor does it happen to every black. But it does occur, much more frequently than it should.
While many blacks have taken these kinds of incidents in stride and consider them the price to pay for being black in America, I have seen others become bitter.
What they and other blacks have learned is that because of attitudes like those shown in the program, it doesn't matter who they are, or whether they wear a suit and tie, or whether they carry themselves in a respectful manner. For some whites, the only thing that matters will be the one thing blacks cannot change - the color of their skin.

There are no laws that can be written to change the kinds of things that happened to Brewer. Only changes in attitudes will make a difference, and those sorts of changes don't come overnight.
Some of my friends have fled St. Louis to go to other cities they believed to be more progressive.

What they've found is that St. Louis is not alone in its attitude toward blacks.
Indeed, at the end of the television segment, the program's producers decided to try one more experiment, and they filmed both Kuhnen and Brewer in New York, as they each tried to catch a cab. The first cab sailed straight past Brewer to pick up Kuhnen.

Attitudes are difficult things to change, but nothing less than a change in them will reduce the discrimination that many blacks feel every day of their lives.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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