10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

How we talk about (and don’t talk about) race

The shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri has raised serious and challenging questions.

–Was the officer, Darren Wilson, justified in shooting Michael Brown, 18, six times or did Wilson use excessive force?   A full and impartial investigation should answer that question, but it will take awhile.

–Have authorities responded appropriately to the protests and violence that followed the shooting or has the militarization of the community exacerbated the situation?  Police are struggling to find a balance between enforcing the law and protecting private property, but not using an overly heavy hand.

–Is the outrage expressed by the community a response to a singular tragedy (the death of Brown) or was the shooting a spark that ignited long-simmering frustrations?   Ferguson is a mostly black community, but the police force is almost entirely white.

–Is Ferguson an aberration in a post-racial America that supposedly followed the election and re-election of Barack Obama or is racial tension just as high now as it was prior to 2008?

–Has the 24/7 news coverage helped keep the public informed or provided a platform for an airing of all grievances, real and imagined?

I’ve posed these questions in “either/or” fashion because this is how we tend to discuss these issues.  It simplifies the debate, but fails to account for nuance, which threads complicated subjects. And race is among the most complex issues we have.

The remarkable progress in race relations in this country is undeniable, but the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow reach deep into America’s psyche.  How can one expect blacks not to view the country through a different prism?

That’s not an excuse for embracing the role of victim, but rather an acknowledgment that despite the integration of communities, schools, the workplace and athletic competition, some level of experiential segregation is inevitable.

Consider what Pew Research found when it questioned Americans whether the shooting raised important issues about race.  80 percent of blacks say yes, while only 37 percent of whites believe it does.   The poll also found that while only 33 percent of whites believe the police response to the shooting has been too strong, 65 percent of blacks say the police reaction has been too heavy handed.

A friend of mine, who happens to be black, tells me it’s common for black parents to have a frank discussion with their children of how to behave if they are stopped by the police.  That’s a result of a long-standing suspicion of certain kinds of authority.

One of the reasons Ferguson resonates across the country is that we are still uncomfortable, even frightened, talking honestly about race.  Those discussions are loaded with potential pitfalls.  It’s safer to avoid them or rely on practiced pablum.

David Fryson, WVU’s Chief Diversity Officer, has urged me for years to have the ongoing dialogue about race.  I used to tease him about that, saying that sounded like touchy-feeling seminar stuff.

But I now believe he’s correct.  What can we do about Ferguson?  We can talk about it with someone of a different color who has a world view unlike our own.  That won’t bring back Michael Brown or calm the ragged emotions of Ferguson, but it may help in a small way to reduce some of the lingering racial friction in America.

 





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