Obama fuels national conversation on race without trying

A while ago, an editor friend here asked me a question after I'd written a column echoing Barack  Obama's call in March for a national dialogue on race.

What exactly would that look like?

With his blessing, I tried calling a wide swath of people to ask exactly that question -- notables ranging from historian John Hope Franklin to civil right activist Al Sharpton, educator Henry Louis Gates Jr. and pundit Tavis Smiley. Unfortunately, none of these people -- most of whom I had interviewed for other stories -- would find the time to talk about this subject.

It was an idea I held in my pocket for quite a while, and after Obama's election, I got the idea that perhaps we were already having this national conversation, but unofficially and in smaller groups. So I put together this column that ran in Sunday's Perspective section as a lengthy meditation on how Obama's election may be changing how we see race issues.

I managed to cobble together an interesting stable of sources, including multiracial actress Rae Dawn Chong, NPR host Michele Norris, and Nick Adams, author of the satirical book "Making Friends with Black People." What seems obvious, is that simply by virtue of who he is, Obama is forcing people of all ethnicities to think differently about race identity, prejudice, stereotypes and diversity.

Here's a few interesting quotes:

Rae Dawn Chong, actress: "I’m actually a little bit worried about what’s going to happen in media. Is the white establishment going to make the wagon train tighter around their concerns? It’s going to be curious to see what happen now that we have a mixed-race president -- in terms of what’s put on television and what’s onscreen. I remember when directors like Spike Lee emerged, there was in the (movie) industry  a real sigh of relief –- they have their own projects, so we don’t have to worry. In the afrocentric (films), you always had to be pushing the cause . . . But I’m not a blacktor, I’m an actor . . . I don’t bludgeon you with my culture. Being a misplaced sister, I suffered at the hands of it -- I was branded within the community, and it made me sad."

Nick Adams, comic and author, Making friends With Black People: "I want to caution black people  from celebrating too much. He's president, but he has the same position Ronald Reagan had and Clinton did before him. He’s not going to walk through the hood handing out $100 bills. We have to do what we always did -- be vigilant and keep the pressure on him to do what we want him to do."

Carmen Van Kerckhove, diversity educator and consultant: "The conversation that I’m seeing really seem to come down (the question of) 'Have we reached the post-racial society or not?' There’s this danger of assuming that racism has become a non-issue. It’s important for us to celebrate this moment. But victory isn’t incontrovertible proof of any kind of sea change. Throughout history, there are people who have reached amazing levels of success, despite tremendous obstacles, just because one individual has beaten the odds."

Michele Norris, co-host, All Things Considered, who spoke several times with a group of racially   diverse voters in Pennsylvania during the campaign: "(After the election), white people noticed that black people or people of color in general carried themselves with more pride and had higher expectations for themselves. Inside that room and outside, I have heard comments that go directly to that . . . young men talking about how they’re not going to wear their pants sagging. I got in trouble on Chris Matthews' (syndicated MSNBC show) by quoting a barber saying people were coming in and getting their dreads cut, because they wanted something different . . . The message he gives the young people now is, 'No excuses.' I looked at some of the people I knew supported John McCain and they were beaming, too. I get the sense that the conversation which started in that room will continue.'   

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Comments

[RagsTTIger]

Too bad the community didn't pay attention to the philosophy of Bill Cosby or Juan Williams. They were both trashed by their peers for voicing concerns over lifestyles, education and family in the black community. Their views didn't fit the political agenda of others.

It is sad that political correctness has killed meaningful conversation. Any challenge to the system means you are automatically tagged a racist. A term that should be equally applied to those radicals on both sides of the issue.

Maybe some day people will recognize a turtle trait. Turtles only get ahead when they stick their neck out.

[Robin 'Roblimo' Miller]

Can't speak for the whole world or even for the celebs you interview, but my grandson Earl has been influenced enough by Obama to focus less on getting ghetto-style (expensive) shoes and more on reading and learning. Stepson Dominique has given up "I'm black" as an excuse for failure and is working to get his life together -- and is taking Earl on regular library runs.

Even our just-turned-16 granddaughter who kept saying she didn't need to study because she was going to be a model, and who openly sneered at my old-but-reliable Jeep Cherokee as a "hoopty ride" when visiting, suddenly wants to move here and live with us and learn how to survive and thrive outside the "black culture" bubble of inner-city Baltimore.

But no. She frankly couldn't cut it at so-so Manatee High School after years of crappy education, including 2.5 years at Frederick Douglass High in Baltimore, where as near as I can tell she gets decent grades just by showing up and not attacking teachers or fellow students. Very bluntly, Baltimore's essentially all-black school system is big on self-esteem rather than learning. The poor kid is better off muddling through her last 1.5 years of high school there, then trying to reclaim some of her potential in a junior college -- or in the military, which is a great place to build some *real* esteem and experience a racially-level living and working environment.

In my family, possibly the most important Obama influence has been the pics of little Barry riding on the shoulders of his white grandfather.

And it's not just in my family. I'm hearing that, at least in Baltimore, a growing percentage of kids and teeners are no longer rejecting learning as a "white thing" and are starting to figure out that yes, they CAN learn, and that no, blaming white people for everything bad in their lives, including their own poor study habits, will get them nowhere.

Now we need to get to work on the white racists. We have no shortage of them. At least Obama's election is flushing them out from under their rocks so we can start dealing with them the way they deserve....