Gregory Freeman: Silence Won't Make Problem Vanish; It Will Make It Worse; The Race Issue. P-D 12/4/1997

Headline: SILENCE WON'T MAKE PROBLEM VANISH; IT WILL MAKE IT WORSE. THE RACE ISSUE
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thu., Dec. 4, 1997
Section: METRO, Page: C1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Every so often I get a letter from a white reader who urges me not to write about race.
"You're a good writer, but I get tired of reading about race all the time, " said a letter I got recently.
As regular readers know, I don't write about race - or, more specifically, racism - all the time. But when I do, I almost always irritate some white readers who would rather not read about it at all.

Still, I write about it because it's a part of life. Not just my life, though I certainly feel the impact of it.
   It affects all of our lives. It affects where we live. It affects where we send our kids to school. It affects where we shop and where we play.
   Some of us may not like talking about it. Some of us prefer to think that racism no longer exists. Some of us would rather see the discussion terminated.
   But wanting it to end doesn't make it go away.

So how do we deal with it?
   I sat in with a group of a dozen columnists from across the country six months ago as President Bill Clinton announced a national initiative on race.
   The president set up a panel of prominent folks to study the issue, play host to town hall meetings and make recommendations on how to improve America's racial climate. The recommendations would be done in a year. The president insisted that this would be one of his priorities in his second term.
   So far, though, it doesn't appear to be a real priority. The first most have seen of this initiative took place Wednesday in Akron, Ohio. That was the first town hall meeting.
   Perhaps it's been a serious lack of organization on behalf of the panel's part.

Or perhaps it's been the case of a panel on race trying to avoid controversy.
That in itself is a problem. Make no mistake about it: Issues of race are controversial. Whenever I write about it or talk about it, my mailbox fills up. It's a topic that many of us are fascinated with. People on all sides of the issues of race regularly speak up, and they often have a great deal to say.
But the panel has been knocked for not taking up controversial racial issues, such as California's ban on affirmative action or a proposed apology for slavery.

I admire its chairman, John Hope Franklin, but he was rightly criticized for saying earlier that he had declined to invite anti-affirmative action leaders to the table because, he said, they had little to contribute to the dialogue.
Even supporters of affirmative action should welcome the opponents to the table. Why? There are so many ideas and thoughts are out there, no one has a monopoly on good ideas, and compromise on the issue could reduce some of the tensions we see now.

Dialogue on race is good, and we need much more of it. People need to speak out more on this topic because there's so much we can learn from one another.
At Wednesday's town hall meeting, a white college student admitted that seeing a poorly dressed black man on the street makes him "a little bit scared."
A black college student said that a poor white person can put on a nice pair of clothes and appear to be middle-class. But no matter how well the student dresses, "I can't change the color of my skin, " he said.

Nothing tears this country apart more than race. Resentment, a lack of understanding by both sides and a lack of desire to understand other points of view all contribute to the difficulties we have.
The president's panel can do this country a service by listening to the beliefs of many and looking for some common ground. That common ground ultimately will bring us closer together.

Meanwhile, Clinton could leave a legacy of improving race relations here. But if his efforts are to stand a chance for success, the nation will have to see that he's taking the issue seriously. Not many have faith that the president can do much about our racial problems. He should view that as a challenge to prove them wrong.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

back