Problems In Race Relations

4-30-99
This text contains thoughts and feelings concerning race relations.  It is a work in progress, so it will be more complete in the future.
Contents:
I. Interracial Dialogue
II. Ignoring and Denying Problems
    a. Agreeing To Disagree
    b. Accepting False and Partial Solutions
III. Intentional Disruption

Interracial Dialogue

Some people have recently suggested the solution to race relations problems in the United States is better dialogue among races.  After sorting through various verbal, written, and electronic comments presented to me, I have noticed certain differences between the way Black and white people view the same subjects.  I believe people have allowed these differences, along with the way we perceive these differences, to inhibit the efforts to create effective dialogue.

It seems when people prepare for interracial dialogue, their main priority is to prove their views are the correct views, as opposed to those of other races.  This works against the suggested goal, which is to gain an understanding of other people's perspectives, as well as present your own.  In efforts to prove their own viewpoints, people seem to create barriers and, rather than carefully considering the views of others, tend to listen for keywords they have already prepared a response for.  An example of this would be a discussion concerning reparations in which and individual blankly stares at the speaker until he hears the term "slavery", at which point he interrupts the speaker and presents a lecture about how he is not responsible for slavery, and misses most of the information being presented to him.

In dialogue, the goal is to consider the thoughts and feelings of others, not to ignore them as you wait for a point to interrupt them.  People justify the interruption by stating the messages being presented are things they have heard before, so it would be a waste to listen to them again.  It is questionable whether these people ever listened in the first place, considering their blatant disregard of the message, and their assumption that the entire message is simply an accusation of responsibility for slavery.  Also, the act of interrupting a message obviously important to the speaker, hinders the dialogue by presenting hostility and unwillingness to consider the views of others.

It also seems interracial dialogue is hindered by strong unexplained comments.  Examples of such comments are accusations of white people being responsible for poverty in Black communities and drug problems, or accusations of Black people being responsible for high crime rates and lack of government funds.  Accusing someone of being racist, insensitive, or responsible for a situation that person does not understand, can obviously lead to resentment, whether the accusations are true or false.  The accusations may not seem so insulting when they have been carefully explained.  After contemplating the explanation, the accused individual will be more able to consider the validity of the statements, and may agree or disagree with them, rather than counterattack with a similar unjustified comment, which would further hamper the dialogue.
 

Ignoring and Denying Problems

Another problem hindering good race relations is the tendency to ignore problems or even deny they exist.  This is related to interracial dialogue, but still a different subtopic.  There are several ways in which this takes place.
 

Agreeing To Disagree

The differences of opinion concerning race are so complex, some people have decided the best solution is to agree to disagree.  While this may seem to be a peaceful solution, I believe it is not a solution at all.  Consider this example: If a man has something you believe is yours, you might say it is yours and the man might say the item is his.  The two of you can agree to disagree.  You may stop arguing, but the item is still in his hands and the real problem is not solved.

The situation is more complex concerning racial issues, but the principles are the same.  Agreeing to disagree seems to be equivalent to concluding that there is no solution to a problem.  This leads to neglecting the problem, which can be dangerous if the problem greatly affects people's lives.

Accepting False and Partial Solutions

Sometimes the frustration of trying to solve race relations problems leads people to accept false or incomplete solutions.  "Agreeing To Disagree" is an example of this.  This is also at the heart of the dispute over Affirmative Action.  Although Affirmative Action was allegedly designed to be a solution to employment discrimination, and did result in some "minority" people being hired, it didn't completely solve the problem.  Another example is the proposal of the white race offering an apology for slavery.  Just as Bill Clinton's apology for the Tuskegee Experiments did not reverse its effects, an apology for slavery will not reverse all of the effects for slavery.

Although these proposed "solutions" were not true solutions, it does not mean they were not beneficial.  It means they were not enough.

Intentional Disruption

Yet another problem, conceivably the most prominent, is the intentional disruption of interracial dialogue.  Some people don't want the dialogue to occur, or don't want it to effectively ease racial tension.  All of the previously mentioned problems can be the results of intentional disruption.  The reasoning behind intentional disruption may not seem straightforward because it first seems pointless to initiate dialogue only to destroy it.  Perhaps the reason is to create a dialogue in an effort to show willingness to co-operate with members of other races, only to destroy the dialogue to support claims that the races will never be able to agree.  Perhaps the disruption is an effort to abandon a failing attempt to persuade other members of the dialogue to accept certain viewpoints.  perhaps the disruption is merely a result of anger or stupidity.

As stated in the beginning, this text is a work in progress.  Just as it is important to carefully present thoughts and feelings in interracial dialogue, it is also important to carefully listen, so we will not disregard comments and answer based on keywords, as explained earlier.  The words in this text do not reflect the opinions of everyone.  They are only thoughts and suggestions.  If you have thoughts and suggestions concerning this text or anything else, sharing them is easy.

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