Glad you are writing again. I read it twice. I have a problem with your "two biggest obstacles. . white people don't believe there is a problem and second , we don't believe it's a national problem,"
So the PROBLEM is that we don't think there is a PROBLEM.? Hmmm, I need more than that. Something more concrete that allows for more specific discussion and action.
You say we are fraught with racist structure and systems . Yes , some of your stories are from institutional warfare but many are specific people /persons hurting other people/persons.
My take is that the horror of racism that we live with comes from an emotion. It comes from poor or no education . It comes from narrow mindedness and shallow, limited life experiences. It's when someone simply sees you coming down the street and thinks YOU ARE DIFFERENT . You are not the SAME AS ME. Therefore, at least you should be dismissed and at most, you should be ... eliminated.
So, what to do? Thats your job! Keep writing your stories with historical perspective., but find ones that help people realize that their racist emotions and feelings should be dramatically reduced. Stories that tell us that there is no difference. WE ARE ALL JUST THE SAME PEOPLE.
I thank you so much for this conversation. This is exactly what we are trying to create - a safe community where we can engage in this important conversation.
Yeah, it’s my observation based on many of years of observation and engagement in many many discussions is that folks just really struggle with acknowledging the depth of the problem. Again and again and again I’ve witnessed people’s seemingly very deep need to keep the problem trivial. I would not be able to tell you how many times I’ve heard, “It’s really not a problem with race, (because God forbid that the United States of America has a problem with race) it’s really a problem with class. No, America, it is not a problem with class. It's a problem with race.
I used to teach wilderness medicine to doctors. A few years ago I was participating in a class in Steamboat Springs. Envision a cute, expensive, upscale, Colorado Mountain ski town. This doctor I’m working with and I are talking about my writing back when I was writing for High Country News. I wrote stories then - infused with my opinion. Quite enjoyable. The doc was a youngish guy. Brilliant for sure. An infectious disease specialist. He asks me in all seriousness, “But why are you writing all this? Hasn’t all that problem been resolved? Hasn’t everything been fixed and the problem with race been taken care of?”
Studies and polls show - if my memory serves me - that somewhere close to 50% of conservatives feel that racism against White people is a problem and a fairly large majority of Trump republicans feel that they suffer more from racism than any other group.
So yes, I believe 100% that we move so slowly because America has this super strong narrative about what an equal opportunity nation we are where all men are created equal. That our merit-based system is equally available to all. That if there’s a problem with race, well, that’s shameful and sad, but it only applies to Black people, and somewhat to Brown people. They should get better educations and work harder and live in better neighborhoods. Problem solved!
I’d give a lot if this problem, that started with a very deep belief in the supremacy of one race over another could be resolved by stories that point out that we’re all the same.
You know that narrative about combat soldiers losing any racism that they may have harbored because they saw that we all bleed red? That we’re all the same! I was a combat Marine (soldiers are army. We Marines take great umbrage at being referred to as soldiers!) in a war. I saw and experienced more racism in Vietnam and in the Marine Corps in general than anyplace I’ve ever been. In this environment where there was visual proof that we’re all the same, racism - violent racism - ran rampant.
Remember the Tea Party - the political party, not the 1773 event in Boston . Remember their slogan? “Take the country back!” Remember all the discussion…”Oh my! What could ‘Take the country back’ possibly mean?” Black people were not confused. Take the country back to a time when their power and authority and station in life was not questioned. Take us back to the time before White America was not on the verge of becoming a country where the majority is non-white.
Sarah Palin, bless her heart, had a lot to do with the rise of the White resentment that gave rise to the tea party. I’m going to assume that you and few White people heard the undertone or even paused when she was in front of a crowd of supporters - NC I think - when she exclaimed, “Gosh…it’s SO good to be here in the REAL America!” Guess what Sarah, Baltimore and South LA are the “real America” too, even tho you and the Tea Party wish they weren’t.
I wish that racism was so shallow and casual that story after story after story pointing out that we’re all the same would work. But I think that the “We’re all the same” narrative has been out there this entire time. I never ever claim to know how to make inroads into America’s thing with race. But I do know that the far right - those folks who poll as feeling that anti-White racism is more of a thing than anti-Black racism- talk a LOT about their patriotism. So it’s my hope that pointing out the threat to our democracy and our vaunted narrative about how America is the greatest country on earth, will motivate them to wake up and see the problem.
Glad you are writing again. I read it twice. I have a problem with your "two biggest obstacles. . white people don't believe there is a problem and second , we don't believe it's a national problem,"
So the PROBLEM is that we don't think there is a PROBLEM.? Hmmm, I need more than that. Something more concrete that allows for more specific discussion and action.
You say we are fraught with racist structure and systems . Yes , some of your stories are from institutional warfare but many are specific people /persons hurting other people/persons.
My take is that the horror of racism that we live with comes from an emotion. It comes from poor or no education . It comes from narrow mindedness and shallow, limited life experiences. It's when someone simply sees you coming down the street and thinks YOU ARE DIFFERENT . You are not the SAME AS ME. Therefore, at least you should be dismissed and at most, you should be ... eliminated.
So, what to do? Thats your job! Keep writing your stories with historical perspective., but find ones that help people realize that their racist emotions and feelings should be dramatically reduced. Stories that tell us that there is no difference. WE ARE ALL JUST THE SAME PEOPLE.
Hi Maynard,
I thank you so much for this conversation. This is exactly what we are trying to create - a safe community where we can engage in this important conversation.
Yeah, it’s my observation based on many of years of observation and engagement in many many discussions is that folks just really struggle with acknowledging the depth of the problem. Again and again and again I’ve witnessed people’s seemingly very deep need to keep the problem trivial. I would not be able to tell you how many times I’ve heard, “It’s really not a problem with race, (because God forbid that the United States of America has a problem with race) it’s really a problem with class. No, America, it is not a problem with class. It's a problem with race.
I used to teach wilderness medicine to doctors. A few years ago I was participating in a class in Steamboat Springs. Envision a cute, expensive, upscale, Colorado Mountain ski town. This doctor I’m working with and I are talking about my writing back when I was writing for High Country News. I wrote stories then - infused with my opinion. Quite enjoyable. The doc was a youngish guy. Brilliant for sure. An infectious disease specialist. He asks me in all seriousness, “But why are you writing all this? Hasn’t all that problem been resolved? Hasn’t everything been fixed and the problem with race been taken care of?”
Studies and polls show - if my memory serves me - that somewhere close to 50% of conservatives feel that racism against White people is a problem and a fairly large majority of Trump republicans feel that they suffer more from racism than any other group.
So yes, I believe 100% that we move so slowly because America has this super strong narrative about what an equal opportunity nation we are where all men are created equal. That our merit-based system is equally available to all. That if there’s a problem with race, well, that’s shameful and sad, but it only applies to Black people, and somewhat to Brown people. They should get better educations and work harder and live in better neighborhoods. Problem solved!
I’d give a lot if this problem, that started with a very deep belief in the supremacy of one race over another could be resolved by stories that point out that we’re all the same.
You know that narrative about combat soldiers losing any racism that they may have harbored because they saw that we all bleed red? That we’re all the same! I was a combat Marine (soldiers are army. We Marines take great umbrage at being referred to as soldiers!) in a war. I saw and experienced more racism in Vietnam and in the Marine Corps in general than anyplace I’ve ever been. In this environment where there was visual proof that we’re all the same, racism - violent racism - ran rampant.
Remember the Tea Party - the political party, not the 1773 event in Boston . Remember their slogan? “Take the country back!” Remember all the discussion…”Oh my! What could ‘Take the country back’ possibly mean?” Black people were not confused. Take the country back to a time when their power and authority and station in life was not questioned. Take us back to the time before White America was not on the verge of becoming a country where the majority is non-white.
Sarah Palin, bless her heart, had a lot to do with the rise of the White resentment that gave rise to the tea party. I’m going to assume that you and few White people heard the undertone or even paused when she was in front of a crowd of supporters - NC I think - when she exclaimed, “Gosh…it’s SO good to be here in the REAL America!” Guess what Sarah, Baltimore and South LA are the “real America” too, even tho you and the Tea Party wish they weren’t.
I wish that racism was so shallow and casual that story after story after story pointing out that we’re all the same would work. But I think that the “We’re all the same” narrative has been out there this entire time. I never ever claim to know how to make inroads into America’s thing with race. But I do know that the far right - those folks who poll as feeling that anti-White racism is more of a thing than anti-Black racism- talk a LOT about their patriotism. So it’s my hope that pointing out the threat to our democracy and our vaunted narrative about how America is the greatest country on earth, will motivate them to wake up and see the problem.