Conversation is a Place to Begin

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of moderating a panel of local leaders in a Conversation on Race 2010 hosted by Millikin University, Richland Community College and Decatur Public Schools among others. The second annual event asked the question, "does race matter today?" Focusing on race and identity issues, the folks who organized the event slated a dynamic keynoter to kick off the conversation. Known for her controversial brown eyes/blue eyes experiment/lesson with third graders in Iowa the day after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis April 4, 1968, Jane Elliott has challenged the ignorance of race prejudice and racism ever since. She is one of my inspirations as I continue to work toward the elimination of the evil of racism and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet her in person and to join our efforts.

The keynote was lively and progressive, touching sensitivities and trampling on bigotry in all its forms. Elliott pushed many emotional buttons and challenged long-held perceptions about the ways of the world. I enjoyed every minute of her presentation. The panelists were a diverse representation of our community leaders including educators, clergy, media, students, and a judge. Unfortunately, the audio set-up did not give me the opportunity to have many exchanges with the panelists because I simply could not intelligibly hear their responses. And yet, this annual opportunity to honestly recognize the elephant in the room of many conversations about the future of our community and then to pledge to do our best to address the issues is more than just an hour long work-out. The conversation is a place to begin a regiment of exercise to get our community in shape so that when we face issues of racism in our midst, we are well equipped to constructively challenge ourselves to get it right.

As long as people of color are targeted with predatory financial products, drop-out rates continue to be high for young black men, Latinos are exploited for cheap labor, profiling continues to emotionally crush the hopes of young persons of color, incarceration rates and felony conviction rates (which eliminate the person's right to vote, ability to gain employment in many cases, access to banking in many cases and much more) continue to sky-rocket for blacks and latinos; we need to be strengthening our resolve to make this a land of the free with real opportunity for all. And, I haven't mentioned the huge increase in the number and membership of racial hate groups since 2008. Yes, thats right. Since our nation elected an African-American to the highest office (second or third or fitfth...tenth really behind the CEO's of Goldman Sachs and others), the number of white supremists in America has grown and that is truly sad and dangerous commentary on an historic election.

So, the conversation is a good place to begin, but an annual event with limited participation by community residents (more students in attendance) will not solve our issues. We need an ongoing, truthful dialogue about the lies that we all have bought into about race. We must face the truth about the origins of race prejudice and racism, specifically the economic origins of the concept of classification of people with skin pigmentation differences. We need to remember that the key was and continues to be classification - economic classification with caucasoid at the top and negroid at the bottom. We must confess that the classification was invented by and is perpetuated by the caucasoids or white "race." Race was and is the perpetuation of the control of resources by one class/group/color of people, period.
As Jane Elliott reminded us, "we are all members of one race, the Human race." Yes we are. God made humanity in God's own image, we are taught. Not in the white woman's image or the black woman's image or the olive toned woman's image (substitute man for woman for inclusivity if you wish), but in God's own image. Social scientists indicate that the origin of humanity was most probably anything but white or pale pigmented people and that only through migration to other climates did we gain the human rainbow we now know across this globe.
I truly hope that we will continue the conversation and that we will get it right, eventually. I hope that we will creatively embrace the abundance that is evident in our common humanity, celebrate our beautiful diversity, and then perhaps begin to grasp the depth of God's love for all persons.    Peace & Joy!