Sometimes its best to just tell the truth. Even when it makes folks angry. In fact,
particularly then, because its at precisely those times that the truth is obviously
most in need of being spokenotherwise resistance to it probably wouldnt be so
strident.
Such has always been my feeling when it comes to discussions of race
and racism, where too often we skirt the real issues. So, for example, well-meaning mostly
white liberals praise "diversity," without addressing the institutional
injustices which caused and continue to cause a lack of diversityin schools,
businesses, or certain neighborhoodsin the first place. Likewise, so-called
defenders of affirmative action who wanted to talk about anything but ongoing
racism in their tepid and ineffective opposition to Initiative 200 in Washington recently.
So too, those in the "tolerance training" business who treat racism as little
more than a personality flaw in need of adjustment, instead of a carefully cultivated
system of oppression to which good people often acquiesce.
These are folks who think it brave to condemn the lynching in Jasper,
or to ridicule the Klan, but think little of mortgage discrimination, racially-unequal
healthcare access, race and class tracking in public schools, or racially-biased police
practices across Americaall of which exact a greater collective price on communities
of color than the Aryan Nations or a pack of skinheads ever have. This is not to say that
the organized white supremacist movement isnt dangerous, just that real people are
being locked up now, shot at now, denied adequate schooling now, and
"ghettoized" now because of racism, by guys in suits and uniforms rather than
sheets, and yet the dear souls at the Southern Poverty Law Center among others say
nothingtheyre too busy keeping track of hate groups on the internet.
The importance of telling the truth about race issues was demonstrated
yet again to me last week, when I had the chance to sit on a panel in Knoxville, Tennessee
to discuss the question: "Is White America Responsible for Combating Racial
Inequity?"
There was one moment where telling the truth became particularly
important during the evenings discussion. Only a few minutes into the event, one of
the moderators asked whether white America "has any secrets that we should know
about?" In particular, he wanted to know if there were certain rules of the club, so
to speak, about which people of color are unaware, but about which they should know, in
order to more effectively organize against racism.
At first I thought about discussing the process of "white
bonding" that goes on when white folks who dont know each other that well are
in an all-white setting, and issues of race come up. Whether its in a cab, a bar, a
park, a restaurant, or a college dorm room, whites almost instinctively assume every other
white person in the room thinks just the way they do, and proceed to cut loose with any
number of racial diatribes: about "those people" on welfare (CEOs I ask?);
"those people" coming across the border (Canadians, I presume?); "those
people" who will shoot you at the drop of a hat (white schoolchildren in Arkansas, or
Oregon, I inquire?).
But I decided to share something else: a secret so deep that even most
whites dont realize it to be true. A secret which has major implications for our
organizing efforts, but which is never discussed, and would be denied by most: namely,
that by and large white America doesnt really want racial equity.
Although such a statement may not seem outlandish to Z readers, to most
its downright heresy. After all, think about how many times youve heard
someone say something like, "we all want the same thing, we just have different
beliefs about how to get there." Or, "I want everyone to have an equal
opportunity, I just dont want government to force it," or to "confiscate
my wealth" to make more opportunity for others. Self-help, after all, is something
they insist they do support, and would love to see in communities of color, even if it
resulted in significantly greater equity in terms of good jobs, educations and homes in
"better" neighborhoods. "Lift yourselves up" they proclaim, and
well be there to greet you.
But its a lie, and I felt it necessary to say so. And to
demonstrate just how fraudulent are the claims whites make about supporting equality so
long as it stems from self-help and not redistribution, I offered the following
hypothetical:
Imagine that next week a group of twenty black families call a press
conference at the National Press Club to announce that for six generations since
emancipation, their families have been stashing away money, investing it and letting it
collect interest in banks around the country. And now, after all that scrimping and saving
they have decided to distribute the savings throughout the black community. As believers
in self-help and enterprise, they wish to "liberate" every African-American from
the "bonds" of government largesse and so they have saved and saved, and now
have enough to give to every black family approximately $40,000 free and clear. With that
money, they declare, the black community can get the job training and education it needs,
the health care it deserves, and buy a home in most any neighborhood. There are no strings
attached, no government matching funds expectedjust black folks helping black folks,
without a dime of the white mans money or one iota of government intervention.
How do you think, I asked the audience, most of white America would
respond to this announcement? With praise? Joy at the thought of blacks having roughly the
same accumulated wealth as whites (the average gap is about $40,000)? Would we have a
parade to honor the modern-day Booker Ts for their magnanimity and refusal to ask
for a handout for their people? Or would we react by and large in horror? Would we scream
"reverse racism," "discrimination," and accuse the benefactors of
fomenting "separatism?" If any of you honestly believe we would celebrate, I
then proceeded, let me suggest that you seek out professional help, and quickly.
Silence. Absolute silence. And then smiles crept across the faces of
the persons of color in attendance. They knew that perhaps the biggest secret of all in
the white community had just been shared, and for that matter made visible not just to
themselves, but to other whites who probably had never really contemplated just how
shallow white Americas commitment to racial equity really was. What was most amazing
was that simply stating this truth, clearly and without equivocation seemed to have a deep
impact on the whites in the audience. Had I been a person of color, Im sure they
would have ignored me, or become hostile. But they didnt. Instead, after the event
many approached me to say how much they appreciated hearing this perspective. Although
they found it troubling and more than a little pessimistic, they agreed that it was
trueeven for themselves in many instancesand realized that they needed to get
more involved than ever talking with other whites, challenging our perceived racial
interests, and building a movement for social and economic justice. In many ways, they
said, their lethargy in this area had previously been the result of thinking there
wasnt that much to do. They were no longer so sure.
Make no mistake, if its true that whites arent really
committed to racial equity then we obviously have a lot farther to travel than many
Americans currently believe. But even this fairly pessimistic reality can inspire us to
redouble our efforts: at least we can proceed without being blinded by those who say they
support our ends (equity) but not our means (affirmative action, living wage legislation,
workplace democracy, redistribution, etc.). If we are honest, and realize that an entirely
new and compelling vision has to be offered which can trump that offered by racial
privilege, then progress can be made. But that can never happen if were not willing
to tell the truth about racism, and certainly not if we run away from the discussion
altogether, or limit it to a discussion of "extremists" and Nazis. And that can
never happen until weparticularly whitesshow other whites exactly what they
stand to gain from equity (and what they lose from racism) as workers, parents, neighbors,
and even taxpayers. For there is a flipside to racial privilege, and its none too
pretty: a growing gap between rich and poor which threatens all but a few; a crumbling
educational infrastructure; the expenditure of billions of dollars to incarcerate those
whom we deemed "throwaways" many years before; and the beggaring of millions of
white working people, willing to sacrifice material and communal interests for the sake of
staying ahead of people of color.
The bad news is still the bad news: institutional and attitudinal
barriers to true racial equity are everpresent and formidable. But there is good news:
when whites confront other whites about their fears, and are willing to challenge what
other whites say, think, and how they act when it comes to racial equity, movement is
possible. It wont be easy, but then, nothing worth having is anyway.
Tim Wise is the Director of the newly-formed Association for White
Anti-Racist Education (AWARE), in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, please
contact him at [email protected]