Living up to what A Conversation about Race can really be
Those of us who conceived “A Conversation about Race” have been at times discouraged, at other times pleased at the tone of the discussion.
As we said at the beginning, the whole point of the blog was embodied in its title. We wanted to have honest conversation about issues around race — but we wanted to do it in a safe place, with candor and respect. We haven’t always lived up to that, either by how we have moderated the discussion or how some readers have expressed themselves.
But I was pleased today to see two things that have shown me “A Conversation about Race” is capable of living up to its calling. The first was a reader’s comment on Jean Buchanan’s most recent post about Eric Holder’s comments on race. Jean had expressed some of the frustration I indicated earlier. To that, reader “iluvweknds” responded, in part:
Perhaps it has not accomplished all that you hoped it would, but it has accomplished some good things. I would like to think that a lot of the readers and bloggers have experienced a few ‘aha’ moments. I know I have had several of them as I read some of the blogs.
The second encouraging item is the ongoing discussion around the controversial New York Post cartoon that Steve Parker blogged about yesterday. The discussion about that cartoon is precisely the sort of dialog we hoped “A Conversation about Race” would encourage.
I am grateful for nuanced points of view like that of “Faithful,” who wrote: “That’s not a ‘clear parody.’ It’s an attempt to compare a political figure with the shooting of an animal. At the least, it’s totally despicable to come up with a thinly veiled reference to assassinating politicians. At worst, that reference is made by drawing upon some of the worst prejudices out there.”
I appreciate the comments like this one from “Amazedbythelunacy,” who argued it wasn’t racist, but clearly in bad taste: “By my knowing that Obama didn’t write the stimulus bill, I place no relationship between him and the dead chimp. If anything, this is insensitive to the lady that had her face ripped off by the chimp.”
And I am also gripped by thoughtful remarks such as this from “Mike”: “It was really poor judgement at the very least since there is a clear history of comparing Africans and African-Americans to apes. Given that the president is of African-American decent, it is easy to see how one can question the motives behind this cartoon. I cannot say for sure regarding the motives of the creator, only that it was either a poorly thought out decision or was indeed a backhanded racial attack.”
I am grateful to all of you for showing us what this blog can really be about.
(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
Thanks for having it. Race shouldn’t be a topic we can’t all topic. NO topic should be a topic we can’t all talk about.
Race shouldn’t be a topic we can’t all talk about, that is. Too many uses of the word topic got by brain stuck.
Glad you jumped in hear Kurt. Some posts made me uncomfortable. This blog should be a discussion about issues and not a place for people to vent their racial bias. I think intelligent people can have a real discussion and bring interesting points to the table from both sides that hopefully enlighten each other’s views. Let’s keep this civil folks.
Centrist
There’s is not a word in the English language that should cause anyone to strike, shoot or maim another person for Period…..
Yet you and others give people power when you make a statement like you did.”Some posts made me uncomfortable” well tuff pooopooo.I dislike the words that come out of the mouths of rappers. Yet I’ll defend their right to spew it. Nothing is going to come of these blogs except one item, there are stark differences between Blacks and Whites culturally. No nation in the history of the world lets its minorities have an equal say in what the majority wants none! Everyone that has failed when loses its identity.
This country will fail, this experiment is doom…..
so tell me Kurt, what is a conversation about “race” supposed to be like? Talking about stereotypes, talking about what is different in the culture? you tell us.
I’m with Larry, what is you want exactly? What are these “aha” moments and how did they come about? What do you want to talk about?
You are not being very clear.
Centrist: Yeah, some comments make me uncomfortable, too. That is the nature of the topic, though, and we’ve always expected that might be the case. As we’ve said at the beginning, there is a way to express candid points of view (even if some consider them biased) without being disagreeable.
Larry and jmas: Sorry, I’m not taking the bait. I’ve been clear that nothing’s off limits if it’s presented with civility and respect for other people. And if you’ve not had an “aha” moment, that’s fine. I’m happy to know that others have.
Kurt,
I wasn’t trying to bait you into anything. It’s just that I’ve heard for years that we must have a discussion about race and I honestly don’t know what type of discussion you are looking for.
There are a few people in all races that are racist. Does this mean we are a racist society? I don’t think so, and it is frustrating that our media makes us out to be. We are taught not to stereotype, but when it comes to race, the media does it everytime.
So, I really do want to know specifics, this general term “conversation”… I don’t get it! (I’m honestly not trying to be facetious)
jmas: OK, I’ll stand down. To me, it seems pretty clear. There’s room to debate whether we are a “racist society.” When you say, “We are taught not to stereotype, but when it comes to race, the media does it every time,” I’m interested in hearing more about what you mean by that. Got examples? Send’em my way. We’ll do a post about it. We’ll talk about it.
Here’s what I think:
- There are bigots in our society.
- There are people who are just plain ignorant about issues of race (I mean ignorant a pure dictionary sense, not a pejorative).
- There are people who are confused about race — what can we talk about or what can’t we talk about.
- There are people who simply don’t see color at all.
The conversation can happen in the space between those.
I’ll give you an example. In a comment posted on another item, a reader said this: If my white neighbor’s yard is a mess, and I call him on it, I’m just protecting my neighborhood and having a conversation with my neighbor. But if it’s my black neighbor, suddenly I’m a racist.
Why would something think that?
That’s the kind of discussion you were having on the New York Post cartoon issue. It seems pretty simple to me.
Kurt: to your quoted comment: “I’ll give you an example. In a comment posted on another item, a reader said this: If my white neighbor’s yard is a mess, and I call him on it, I’m just protecting my neighborhood and having a conversation with my neighbor. But if it’s my black neighbor, suddenly I’m a racist” and you ask why someone would think that?
There is a subset of black “leaders” in this country (and I use quotes deliberately), who see any criticism of a black person by a white person as an expression of unwarranted racism. It goes back to the ‘whites have all the power’ paradigm. Don’t forget, there are those who see the scorn being heaped on Barry Bonds as racist, not a criticism of unprofessional behavior and cheating.
For many of us on the “white” side of things, until the black community as a group, as well as individuals, stop throwing out the racism charge to every problem; until they start dealing with their own racism against whites and against white society (education=acting white for example), then they are holding themselves down just as surely as the slaveowners held them down 150 years ago.