‘the audacity of hope’

there are people in this country who are decent people. and they are white. there are people in this country who are decent people. and they are black. my fondest wish is that these two groups of people could sit down and find common ground and work together to fix this country- and this world. i still have dreams- i am a cynic- not a pessimist what brought these folks together during the civil rights movement? and why won’t it bring them together now? there has been much talk about reverend wright’s sermons and remarks- and how this is proof that he (translate black people) hates america. and white america gasped and fanned themselves with their handkerchiefs against the oncoming vapors. ‘i do declare!’

many of us in the white community get our feelings hurt or get defensive by the anger because we are ‘good people’. we ask ourselves- ‘how can we find common ground if black people won’t recognize we are trying?’ we say to ourselves- ‘how can we sit around the campfire together and sing kumbaya when they have such an attitude about everything?’ and i say- we can’t. we can’t because you know what? these folks have their anger and resentment and their feelings are theirs. we pooh pooh off the past- saying that we have made progress and that they should be grateful for the opportunities afforded them. i say- you are part of the problem- still.

what i have learned from talking with folks of color- and reading folks of color- they have thrived in their own communities– in spite of white folks. do they live in abject poverty? many do. are they incarcerated and profiled by law enforcement? absolutely. do they have big social issues within their communities? yes. do they need to take responsibility for cleaning things up there? no. not entirely. we should all be working together. social issues such as poverty and it’s trappings should be something that people who share a society take care of. when i listen to people of color- especially women of color- i hear still about being excluded. reaching out to people as people should come as a no brainer- but apparently, prejudice is still ingrained in this country. what i hear is- white folks will include us- if we follow a hierarchy where we are not equals. i hear the same lament from folks marginalized in the lgbt community. we don’t live in the same society- we have parallel societies because human beings we have marginalized have made their own in spite of the power structure. i am not making excuses for folks who break the law and i am not advocating against personal responsibility but i get mighty tired of folks refusing to acknowledge that people of color are still marginalized. so- for me- reverend wright’s remarks don’t seem harsh. directed at privilege, it is something i can understand. directed at rich, white male privilege is something i can understand even more having been a poor white woman for many years.

my thought- obama decried his former pastor’s remarks because he had to. it is the politically correct thing do- because we all know we don’t want to rock white america’s vote- uh boat. the dialogue can’t start until the anger and frustration is vented- and we need to listen to it. one of the biggest problem we have as white folks in america- we don’t listen to anyone. we have never been humble and we want what we want when we want it. we have conquered and subjected indigenous folks all over the globe and we feel entitled. the reason that racism still exists- is because we don’t want it to go away. and that is the dirty little open secret in the western world. one doesn’t hear about ‘quiverfulls of snowflake babies‘ in the msm and one doesn’t continually play the big bad race card in politics during an election year- if uniting people was the plan. when i worked in human services, i had to attend the ‘diversity’ trainings and whatnot. problem was- most of the folks weren’t all that diverse- and the material we covered left much to be desired. i learned more from listening to my colleague- a woman of color- and working in an environment that promoted the hiring of diverse folks- than anything that can be book learned. my point is- we all worked together because we didn’t see color. we didn’t see gender. we had each other’s backs and we supported each other and tried to the best we could for the clients we had. and we made mistakes and we irritated each other- as people. because we were people. my friend of color said it meant much to her when i told her that i never looked at her as a black woman- that she was janet to me. and i meant it. she was more than just her skin color- she was a mother and a coworker and a woman with a tremendous work ethic who was also my friend. we never thought twice about it.

that’s my wish.