White Misunderstanding

There is a great deal going on in our world and it has been quite some time since my last blog post. It's time.

Having been raised in the south, I have been confronted with racial bias for most of my life. Growing up in the south, you see this on both sides. (I realize that racial tensions globally run far deeper than black and white Americans but that is my frame of reference). By "both" sides, I mean there is animosity coming from both racial groups toward each other.

Philosophically, I have always stood for challenging mind sets and encouraging people to see things from the perspective of the "other" side. I believe that at the core of true growth is understanding. Understanding creates the potential for communication, healing, and ultimately hope for the future.

I have spent many years living and working in communities that are transitional and have broad racial and socioeconomic variation. I have friends of many races that span a wide range economic statuses.

What my white friends, particularly, but not exclusively, my conservative white friends seem to be frustrated with is that they have "bought" hook, line, and sinker every stereotype about the black community. They see much of the urban black community as lazy, thuggish, entitled, and criminal. This is true of some within the inner city black community. But, these are the outliers within the community. Most of the coverage we see of these communities in the news is focused on these parts of the community and it creates a false sense of the community as a whole.

Additionally, many of my white friends feel that the black community does not care about it's own. They feel that black leaders are not advocating within their own communities to speak out and try to stop the violence within their communities. Also, not true. Many black leaders, particularly black clergy members, are actively working to curb violence in their communities.

There are many misconceptions about black welfare mothers and other fallacies about inner city communities.

There was a time in my life when I held many of these misconceptions. It took spending time in the inner city - living there - working with people - for those misconceptions to begin to change. It was a process for me.

I don't want to risk misrepresenting the black viewpoint so I won't pretend to speak for what the black perspective is on white people. I will just say what I have seen first hand.

I have seen black people profiled. I have seen black friends pulled aside a questioned and "roughed up" BECAUSE they are black. Not because they were doing anything that would justify it. I have worked for large corporations that did not look favorably on hiring/promoting black employees. I have listened to extended family members speak ill of black people in ways that they would never do in a public forum but that clearly showed a strong racial bias that I would call racism.

It always frustrates me to see white people get angry when black people express anger over situations like Ferguson - as if the black community is just supposed to sit back and accept it because Michael Brown was a "thug." Thug or not, he was unarmed and he could have been pepper sprayed, or tazed, or anything other than shot and killed. Far too many unarmed black men are shot and killed by police and there is simply no good reason for it.

We would do well in this case to listen with an understanding ear. If you have not been black, then you don't know what it is like to be inherently distrusted. You don't know what it is like to see a woman double-clutch her purse just because you are walking by. You don't know what it is like to see people lock their car doors just because you are walking by. You don't know what it is like to be the first to arrive at the meeting and someone thinks your the clerical help because you are black when you are actually an executive (which happened/happens to a close friend of mine frequently).

You don't have to agree with the violence being committed in Ferguson. Most of the violence is being committed by gangs and thugs - not protestors. There have been many stories of protestors helping to protect businesses and trying to quell the unrest. But, you don't have to agree with it to understand that there are some serious injustices occurring every day at the expense of black people - particularly poor black men.

As a human being, it should make all of us angry. We should stand arm in arm with them and demand better. When one group is marginalized, we all suffer.