Date of publication: March 14, 1999
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Comments on this column:
My views on the race issue, however,
are somewhat different from yours.
When a black man complains that he
hears car doors lock as he approaches,
I would remind him that although only
14 percent of our population is black,
there are as many black criminals as
white in our jails. I would suggest that
if he does not like the sound of doors
locking, the black community needs to
reduce the size of its criminal population.
When the black BMW driver whines about
being pulled over, I would remind him
that flashy cars are the signature of
the black druglords who are destroying
black communities, and that he should
be pleased that police are doing their
best to control illegal drugs.
When black parents complain that teachers
assume that white parents care and black
parents don't, I would remind them of the
exploding illegitimacy and abortion rates
among black parents. And I would ask what
blacks are doing to instill the family values that
would demonstrate that black parents do care.
If I ignore blacks in the hallway, it is
because they enthusiastically rally around
welfare pimp leaders such as Jesse Jackson,
Maxine Waters, and John Conyers, liberals
whose power base depends upon keeping blacks
in perpetual poverty and whose messages
to their constituents is hatred of whites
and a lifetime of welfare checks paid for
the very whites they preach against. I would
ask them why they don't support black leaders
who have a positive message: Alan Keyes,
Ward Connerly, Walter Williams, J.C. Watts,
Ken Hamblin, Thomas Sowell.
And finally, when blacks complain about
having to show IDs, I would remind them
that 90 percent of blacks support the
most corrupt, immoral president in our
history, and how I can only assume that
their support reveals the same moral
and integrity flaws as Clinton's.
Bill Ames
The white male transparencies filled three thick looseleaf binders. The black male set was contained in one slim binder. As I glanced through the transparencies, a cop marveled that I was able to make an ID, since all blacks looked alike to him, he said.
So if blacks look alike to you, how do you know you've got the
right guy? I asked.
Oh, we'll get the right one, was the reply.
It was quite a lesson in the dynamics of law enforcement and black citizens. I saw something through different eyes. (I refused to cooperate further, by the way. But what I should have done was raise hell in the media, local community groups, because as a white guy, my criticism would have carried more credibility, sad to say.)
Your column asks: What can a white man do?
I took a course on racism in college that was very interesting.
Too
often the discussion of racial matters generate much heat and precious
little light. Exploring the topic in an academic fashion, to the extent
possible, helps people recognize the difference between assumptions and
fact. In a broader sense, it's a wonderful exercise in learning to think
for yourself. I wish such a course were available in high schools
everywhere. It could even be something offered by a church or community
opirganization and aimed at the adult population. We need to talk to each
other in a civilized manner, and if we can do so without introducing our
racial and prejudicial baggage, we'll learn a lot about the artificial
walls that divide us.
Most white folks want to be fair, I believe. They help maintain
white supremacy not out of hate, but ignorance. Whites need to take a more
active role in education their fellow Caucasians about racism. The simple
truth is that they'll be more willing to listen to what we say than what a
black civil rights leader says. Once you give someone the ability to look
at the world with different eyes, even a little bit, they will educate
themselves. The evidence is out there; we need only to see it.
I do not ignore a racist remark or joke told in my presence. There
are exceptions to that, especially when dealing with my in-laws (!) but
whites tend to remain silent rather than risk bad feelings.
In conversation, I do not identify a person's race unless it is
germane. It seems to me that folks tend to identify a person's race when
that person has done something wrong. Like, "this black guy cut me off in
traffic today" or "this bunch of black kids was being disruptive in the
McDonald's playground at lunch." I suppose it's an idiosyncracy of mine,
but I think those casual references tend to underscore an association
between black people and bad behavior in the mind of both speaker and
listener. Bad behavior by whites is simply bad behavior, and not tagged
with a racial overtone.
Gary Goettling
-Dean Barker
Sujan
This is not what I'm supposed to be doing at this moment, but I wanted to
add (belatedly, since I'm reading back mail) that I believe our language
is filled with assumptions. When the terms "non-white" and "minority" are
used, they start from the assumption that the world is white & the "other"
is therefore "non-white" or statiscally "minor" (which, as you noted, is
not statistically so in the globe on which we live). I am white,
Caucasian, European American. That names what I am, not what I am in
relation to any other group. I am teaching myself to use the term "people
of color" because I see it as representing a positive statement, not
representing a void. It hasn't been easy, because I first had to wrap my
mind around it, & then step ahead of myself when I speak. But it's
becoming more natural & I'm glad. Until someone finds an even more
egalitarian form of language, I'll use it. I'm also aware that black,
Negro, African American are descriptive terms affected by popularity & a
historical sense of accuracy or inaccuracy. Additionally, individual
people of color have their own preferences; a colleague of mine whom I
refer to as "black", uses that term for herself & family/friends when with
them, but refers to African Americans when speaking in a larger sense.
She's not sensitive to my use of various terms, but some people are. What
makes all this difficult is that it is a relationship-by-relationship way
of making progress in the world. But then, isn't that true of all the
most important aspects of life. Thanks for sharing the insights, Mike.
Robbie
Someday I would really like to sit down with you, and your
brothers and have a conversation about what we have learned about
ourselves and those whose paths we have crossed as we trudge our lonely
path to destiny.
Some suggestions for the betterment of the human
race...encourage your children to hang out with kids of color and explore
with them the various ethnic, social and spiritual experiences of other
cultures. Have a potluck party and invite everyone on your block or maybe
your immediate neighborhood, where everyone old and young brings some
object or article that has had meaning to them in terms of having
influenced some aspect of their lives. Share that experience with the
others at the party. Have a story telling segment where everyone shares
either a family story from the past or a harmless funny family secret or a
most embaressing moment. Of course everyone brings their favorite ethnic
food from their childhood for the group to share and comment upon.
There
maybe entertainers from this group who can perform. This can be organized
by printing up a flyer which is left at every residence explaining that
you are having a "getting to know you" party for the neighborhood...with
either a tear off RSVP or your number to call for further information..
suggest that you mention that the party will be drug and alcohol free.
Have the party on the street in front of your house and have the police
block off the street. You will announce that a suprise guest will
attend... I bet that if you get this rolling (especially if you wanted it)
the media would pick up on it and the idea could spread to other
neighborhoods . I am sure that you could contact your local pols, pro
athletes and other area vips who would like to be invited.... Anyway keep
on writin.. Your uncle, Jack Finley
(My Uncle Jack was sound man for Jesse Jackson in Chicago in the 60s/70s, and has lived his whole life seeking justice for people. I am very proud to have him as my uncle! - Mike)
I live in a midwestern city where my white middle class children are
ineligible for certain schooling/educational programs purely because they
are white and middle income. We are discriminated against because we are
not black and poor. Those who are can send their kids to private
religious schools at city expense, but those of us in the middle income
bracket who can not otherwise afford private schools can not use the same
program to educate our children. Almost makes me wish my children were of
a minority race just so they could take advantage of these benefits.
Yet I respect all people and purposely enrolled my children in a school
where they are a minority. 85% of their schoolmates qualify for free
lunch and 90% of the school is "minority". My kids learn better tolerance
for the differences and similarities among people by being a part of this
public school. I grew up living all over the world and want my children
to know that people all over the world are different in many ways.
But I still can't help wonder what about the white middle class people
who
are shut out from opportunities because we are not poor and black? When
do we get a break?
Sherri Goodwin
I am happy to see a white columnist, whose subject matter doesn't
usually broach race issues, put forth some ideas on that subject based on
his observations in everyday life. I am even happier to see a white
columnist write a column about race that doesn't contain an ounce of
defensiveness! I think defensiveness on the part of whites (who see being
racist as inherently _bad_, rather than as just _inherent_) is a driving
force behind many modern racial problems. Defensiveness breaks down
communication almost from the get-go.
One thing I thought about while reading your column is how insidious
racism is, that its tentacles are present even in seemingly innocent
pronouns like "we" and "they."
In your column, you used "we" for white people and "they" for people
of
color, implying a white audience. To write purposely for a white audience
could be useful depending on the circumstances, but was it intentional?
You also used the term "non-whites" (so did a Thai man whom you
quoted,
and so do lots of people). It's easy to think in terms of "white" and
"non-white," but the perspective it implies does not well serve the
interests of justice and fairness.
I wasn't reading your column with an eye to pick at it, but because
you
had written of my home state and about a topic on which I have few
answers, but to which I give as much thought (and discussion) as possible.
Jill Erickson
Clare Bernatsky
Tom Duckwall
There's one thing I'd add: if you happen to be involved in a largely
all-black group, don't be patronizing and don't expect that they'll
mention race in front of you any more than you'd mention to random
acquaintances some problem you have that they don't and about which you
don't think they can do anything. -- Corbin Kidder
" ___"
I read with interest your article
"What can a white man do?" in the
March 16 Duluth News-Tribune.
A personal story: I was working at a convenience store some years ago when, just before closing, a black teenager came in, drew a gun and asked (demanded?) the cash. At the police station, I was going to provide a description of the thief. It seems that nowadays, instead of using an artist, cops have you pick various facial features from sets of transparencies that can be overlaid to create a composite of the crook.
You suggest that people ought to be treated different based
on the color of their skin? How do you not consider yourself
a racist? Look at how many times you had to mention color
of skin when you described somebody? I do not do that. If
somebody turns their head away when they see you, that person
is an impolite person, not a [color-of-skin] impolite person.
If a cashier checks one person for an ID and then does not check
the next person, you then assume that it is because of color
of skin? I think you need to take a good hard look at yourself
and about your prejudices.
Beautiful piece. Period!
Hi Mike and gang...great column..who knows having some extra holes in
your head ..perhaps it will open up your mind and expand your insights and
outsights....
I read your column because someone posted it to an e-mail list I am part
of, otherwise I never would have stumbled across it. While I certainly
appreciate the meaning behind the piece, it seemed very narrow minded to
me. I have never been one who espouses racism, yet I am often the victim
of "reverse racism" and frankly I'm getting tired of it.
Milwaukee, WI
Loved your latest "essay." I've been an advocate for brotherly love all
my life. At one point in my younger years I had visions of changing the
world. Obviously it didn't work....but the beat goes on and folks like you
who know what to say and how to say it will always light a candle where
there was once darkness. Thanks!
Mike -- Interesting coincidence that you picked this topic. Here in
Guilford County, NC the recent weeks have been like a repeat of the 60's,
with blacks being arrested at school board meetings and some jailed for
over a week for not agreeing to stay away from future meetings. The
entire school system is being redistricted, with two of the stated goals,
"neighborhood schools" and "racial balance" almost certainly contradictory
in the short- to mid-term outlook. For a look at how one man's experience
has led him to reject integration as a goal and exert all his efforts
toward strengthening black neighborhoods and the schools in them, see
www.greensboro.com for today's News and Record stories on Ervin Brisbon
and the more traditional minority community view.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this column. It pretty much sums
up the way I feel and* mentions some things which I try to do in my own
daily life.
(NAME)
![[IMAGE]](http://mfinley.com/gif/finley.gif)
I just got my author's copies of a new book from Financial Times Management (London), MASTERS OF THE WIRED WORLD: Cyberspace Speaks Out.What's remarkable is that this collection of manifestos about the new age a'dawning contains proclamations by Tony Blair, Al Gore, Charles Handy, Nicholas Negroponte, Arthur C. Clarke, Alvin Toffler ... and me.
I was at a PTA meeting at my son's school, and the topic was race. Fully 64% of the school-age kids in St. Paul are non-white, but our school, a very good public elementary school, has to jump through hoops to achieve a 50% minority enrollment.
Some white parents at the school have been trying to boost the number of minority kids for years. There is resistance from some white parents who don't want their youngest kids kept out because of quotas. Minority parents, for their part, have mixed feelings about the place. In the neighborhood the school is seen as a white school, and not hospitable to them.
This issue really got to me. I think of myself as a liberal person, wishing good things for the discouraged. But when have I publicly defended their rights or declined my privileges?
The answer is pretty much never. And people are discouraged. The black parents at the meeting described what it is like to be of color in a white world. Black kids feel especially lousy about themselves in school. They feel like walk-ons in a movie about white people. They have all the insecurities that every kid has normally, about performing and being accepted -- plus the added specter of race, which seems to haunt every interaction.
And white people, the parents said -- we are all born on third base, but we act like we hit a triple. All we have to face are the everyday anxieties. We are spared the extra level of race anxiety.
I asked the black parents what white people like myself could do to make things better. Their prescriptions flowed over the rim of school policy into the little things in everyday life that we could do, but don't:
[For a gripping true story by a good friend of mine about police arrassment, click here.]
So why am I talking about race and schools in a column about technology and the future?
Because our vision of the future is a lie, if we see it as white. Given birth rates and population shifts, white people will soon lose their majority status. Globalization has already undermined our status. In the long run, what chips we run on and what programs we use are idiotic concerns compared to, "Are we civilized? Can we abide one another?"
Like a frustrated Houdini, we keep throwing off one set of chains and finding another underneath. The abolitionists helped break off the physical chains of slavery. The civil rights movement removed the legal chains keeping people from equal treatment.
We're in the last stage now, where we need to go inside our minds and hearts and loosen the psychological chains of racial fear and mistrust that shackle our thinking and feeling.
People of goodwill can break through even this last chain -- and lay claim to a future worth celebrating.
(If you have other suggestions on how to behave, send them to Mike at mfinley@mfinley.com. He'll post them, and your comments, at http://mfinley.com.)
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Get your signed copy of The NEW Why Teams Don't Work by Mike & Harvey Robbins from Berrett-Koehler Publishers Just click on the book cover! A fully revised second edition of this award-winning classic by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley Paperback
Winner, Financial Times/Booz Allen & Hamilton Global Business Book Award, Best Management Book - The Americas, 1995
|
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