Continuing from my last 2 columns: I’ve been writing about my
personal take and experiences with race here in America. I’ve been trying to
figure out why this topic has been weighing on my mind so much lately. Is it
the classic “Liberal White Guilt”, or is it something else?
The conclusion I’m coming too is that it’s more about my
ignorance than guilt. I wrote in my earlier columns about my friend Al who is
black and how we never actually talked about our racial differences. That’s
what’s been bothering me so much; the fact that I assumed his life was just
like mine.
Growing up and especially in high school I always felt like
an outsider. I never even gave it a thought that Al might also feel like an
outsider considering that he was so much cooler and more popular than I was. He
seemed to fit in just fine to my world but as I think back it didn’t work the
other way around.
Al had black friends that still went to the public schools
and when he was hanging out with them I wasn’t invited. I have a strong memory
of one time when pot was very scarce (it did happen) and Al took me up to a
dope house in the “hood” where we bought a nickel bag through a small opening
in the front door. I was scared to death because I knew I was most definitely
out of place.
I never really thought about why Flint was segregated, most
blacks lived in the north end and that’s just the way it was. My wife’s family
was one of the many that abandoned the north end as part of the “white flight”
in the late 60’s because they didn’t feel “safe” anymore. I wonder how
different Flint would be if those families had stayed and actually gotten to
know their black neighbors.
I won’t dwell on Flint too much, but since it’s been all over
the news because of their water crisis I will give you my two cents worth. The
reasons for the water problem is in this order: economics (Flint is poor),
bureaucratic (appointed leadership), racial (primarily black population), and
political (Republican Governor – Democratic voters).
Anyway, let’s get back to my ignorance (the last paragraph
not withstanding). The ignorance I’m talking about is that of a middle aged
white guy who doesn’t have a clue about living the “black experience” here in
America. Like I said, most of my life I just didn’t think about how different
life is for a person of color. I believed the Declaration of Independence when
it stated that “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are
created equal…”.
The problem I see is not in that we are created or born as
equal humans it’s that we are born into unequal circumstances. Throughout human
history it’s always been about the luck of the draw. What situation you’re born
into will 99% of the time dictate how your life turns out. With over 300
million people living in the United States that means that a few million will
overcome the hardship and succeed as well as a few of us will squander the good
fortune we were given.
But back to the black experience and my lack thereof. I know
some of the reasons I’ve been thinking about all this is because of the media,
in particular Larry Wilmore and the Nightly Show. I know the show is just a not
to serious, left leaning, political and social commentary but there is enough in
it about being black in America to really make you think.
What it makes me think; is how ridicules it is in this modern
day and age to still be judging people as inferior or superior because of the
color of their skin. There are so many better ways to judge people;
intelligence, physical prowess, artistic ability, compassion, courage, the list
goes on and on because everyone is superior or inferior at something than
somebody else. The whole point is that we are all individuals regardless of the
similarities we may share with other people.
To view the column in it's original form go to page 14 of the following link. Winters Express 5/19/16
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