What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about race
Shirley Sherrod
Even in intimate discussions among friends, it can be hard to talk honestly and in depth about race and racism.
It’s easy to see why. Irrational sentiments that burble up out of the most primitive recesses of our souls — emotions that are then refracted through personal and collective experience — just don’t translate easily into rational thought.
And once such a thought is formed and expressed, it must then be heard and processed by other minds that are grappling with those same challenges, but from a very different perspective.
A lot can go wrong in that translation from one mind to another. And when you scale that conversation up and try to involve millions in the discussion, the number of ways that things can go wildly wrong increase geometrically, particularly when some in the conversation are trying to manipulate it for economic gain or political ambition.
Those dangers have led many to conclude that in public, it is better to avoid the topic of race altogether than to risk misunderstanding and the inflammation of dangerous passions.
I disagree.
As painful as the Shirley Sherrod case has been, for example, I think the country understands itself better today than it did a week ago.
True, some of what we’ve come to understand is not that pleasant. We’ve seen the power of people such as Andrew Breitbart, who released a harshly distorted video depicting Sherrod as a racist. He almost destroyed her career and her life in the process, yet he still refuses to apologize or take responsibility.
Andrew Breitbart
We also saw elements of the American media as well as the Obama administration leap to conclusions on command, like well-trained poodles wearing shock collars, only to sheepishly reverse course once the truth became known.
In the process, though, we also became familiar with the real story of Sherrod, a black woman who was born and raised in the Jim Crow South and who lost her father in a murder supposedly committed by a white neighbor who was never prosecuted.
In the last few days, hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans have watched the 43-minute videotape in which Sherrod relates her struggle to overcome the resentment and distrust toward white people created by that and other experiences.
It’s a great story, honestly told, and I’d bet that most of those who took the time to watch that tape at one point reflected on their own, perhaps uncompleted journey to that same grace that Sherrod has tried to attain.
That is a good thing. America has never been a static concept. To the contrary, it has existed in a permanent state of transformation politically and economically as well as demographically.
Within the past generation, long-term trends such as immigration, civil rights, gay rights and feminism have transformed the face and power structure of the country. As a result, the ability not just to tolerate but to welcome and celebrate those of other backgrounds has become essential to success.
Until a few years ago, many Americans had talked themselves into thinking that we had put questions of race behind us, that we had already emerged into a post-racial society in which such things no longer matter. And while the election of Barack Obama might have been seen as confirmation of that belief, in fact it has done the opposite. It has brought to the surface elements of racism that many had tried to pretend no longer existed.
It is important to keep that statement in perspective. In uncertain times, strong and sincere disagreement about the nation’s course ahead is inevitable. The political standoff that exists in Washington today would exist even if Obama looked and talked like Mitt Romney, because it is based on honest differences of policy and ideology, not race.
But if we’re honest, we must also acknowledge that race has given some of the opposition to Obama a nasty edge and a passion that at times is out of proportion to its inspiration.
These are tough times. It is a lot easier to trust your fellow man when you feel secure in your job and home than when you wake up each morning fearful it all might be snatched away by forces that you cannot comprehend or control. What we’ve seen in the last few days is the danger posed by those who would profit by stoking and feeding those fears, rather than try to calm them.
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542 comments Add your comment
neo-Carlinist
July 23rd, 2010
3:43 pm
Dusty, don’t go there. Hound Dog was written by the famous Jewish writing team of Lieber and Stoller. It was first recorded (1952) by an African American woman named “Big Mama” Thornton, then recycled through the Hillbilly genre (country) a half-dozen times by various white artisits, then spent some time in the custody of an Italian-American Doo-Wap group called Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, finally being covered by a white trash rock n roller from Memphis named Elvis Presley. I suspect there is a “jewcowboy” jock in there somewhere.
neo-Carlinist
July 23rd, 2010
3:44 pm
joke, not jock
Scout
July 23rd, 2010
3:54 pm
RF:
Racism is Rural Georgia? You’re kidding?
I’ll tell you what ………. I can sent you to certain places in L.A., Chicago or Detroit where if you set foot you (if you are white) stand a good chance of not getting out alive ……… in broad daylight.
What do you call that ????
Legend of Len Barker
July 23rd, 2010
4:04 pm
I hate to bring up something from the first page, but Doggone, Who Wants to Live Forever was written by Brian May, not Mercury and possibly even predates Mercury’s diagnosis. I believe you’re actually thinking of The Show Must Go On, which was from 1991.
I want to make a book suggestion, The Race Beat by Hank Klibanoff and Gene Roberts. It provides a very firm foundation for understanding race relations and how everything played out during 1950s and 1960s, plus some realizations from the Watts riots.
I also suggest looking into newspaper archives from 1964-70, which is when the vast majority of Georgia counties integrated schools (minus Dawson, Union, Forsyth, Towns, and Lumpkin counties who didn’t have any integration to do).
Local papers about the JFK assassination are also interesting to see the divide in opinion. He was more or less a hero to youth, but he wasn’t a favorite of several adults because of his stance on integration.
I don’t know if we can start progressing in race relations until we understand just what happened.
Buckagon
July 23rd, 2010
4:10 pm
Jay,
You’re saying WE DON’T TALK ABOUT RACE??? —YOU???
WTF?
Where’s the President on this issue? It wasn’t Breitbart that ruined her career. Vilsack fired her you idiot! Obama will benefit greatly from racial insecurity of Americans this Fall, and so will Democrats!
neo-Carlinist
July 23rd, 2010
4:16 pm
Scout, and how is this evidence of “racism” (you know, by your definition that “one race feels it is superioir to another”? I would “call that” for the sake of argument, and without lending a shred of credibility to your claim, I would “call it” a crime, or just plain murder. I frankly don’t see (or maybe I do) that zip code or the race of either the perpertrator or the victim is evidence of “racism”.
neo-Carlinist
July 23rd, 2010
4:25 pm
Buckagon, yeah and when you fall from a roof, the “fall” doesn’t kill you, hitting the pavement at 33 feet per second and severe internal injuries kill you. “Justin Bieber” posted an edited video for the purpose of discrediting (and possibly libeling) Sherrod and discrediting the Obama administation. Vilsack (also known as Nilsack) should be fired for his ignorant and short-sighted RE-action to “Bieber’s” video, but again, you sound like a bank robber whose gun accidentally discharged, killing a teller; “I didn’t mean to shoot her. I just wanted to demonstrate the lax security procedures at the bank.”
Don't forget
July 23rd, 2010
4:25 pm
Mark, that page you posted is from atlasshrugs.com, a site run by a birther and general nut. Here’s a thought, if you want to see an application for an internship for OFA just go to their site:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/2010Intern
Scout
July 23rd, 2010
4:28 pm
neo-Carlinist :
Not my definition. Look it up. “Geneticalliy superior”.
The rest of your thought process I couldn’t decipher.
Gone permanently upstairs …………………………
RF
July 23rd, 2010
4:30 pm
Josef- HIGH FIVE!! How did you survive the teenage years (12-16 specifically)? I’m getting gray hair just trying to deal rationally with a 14 yr. old…
Scout- I lived in West End (Atlanta) for about three years. I was the only white guy in sight and actually did quite well. I got a house for next to nothing and figured, why not try it? What I found out was that the stereotypes just didn’t apply- for them or for me. The only reason I left was because I changed counties to teach and it was too far to drive. I hated selling that house after all the work I did and I still go back to visit some of my old neighbors every now and then. While not as bad as some parts of Detroit or LA, I’m pretty sure it’s more about one’s attitude as an outsider than it is about race. The residents there are at enough risk themselves, let alone someone white showing up.
Ferguson
July 23rd, 2010
4:35 pm
You white people started all this mess with slavery.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 23rd, 2010
4:39 pm
I have NO problem talking about race. My question is where’s the heat on blacks that most only vote for a black candidate, no matter if the white running is more in line with their thinking? Because if whites voted that way NObama would have only received about 15% of the vote. Chew on that awhile…..mmm, mmm, mmm….and could somebody PLEASE hire his daughters as baby sitters!
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 23rd, 2010
4:40 pm
Ferguson…show me a slave that’s still alive, nimrod.
Mama Says
July 23rd, 2010
4:53 pm
HDB,
you say “When a liberal disagrees with a conservative policy, we are called traitors, fascists, communists…anything BUT Americans!”
I cannot even argue with you on this because you place equal repercussions on all the labels when all labels are not created equal. Tell me the last time someone lost their job because they were labeled a traitor, fascists OR communist. Tell me the last time you know of a lawsuit being filed against a corporation because they were traitors or fascist. I don’t believe you can. The label of racist has lifelong implications it would be nice if you proved it before you throw it out there.
“If that liberal is also a person of color….conservatives quickly play racial issues to marginalize the opposition!”
You have to be kidding—–EVERY HOT TOPIC right now is solely about the liberals accusing conservatives of being racist. We are racist because we are against “ILLEGAL” immigration–(note the word ILLEGAL) although libs leave out the Illegal part when they are accusing us OF BEING RACIST. You guys jumped to conclusions about the cop and the professor—despite what the black cop on scene said. You guys are even blaming conservatives of racism in the Sherrod incident even though the knee jerk response came from libs, as usual you assailed her character, fired her and THEN looked at the facts.
” as a white male, you have yet to have people FOLLOW you in stores thinking that you are a thief; you have yet to have cabs pass you by because you are a person of color; you have yet to be a victim of bad service because clerks feel you won’t tip…or you don’t have any money to purchase things!! These are things that when brought forth…are marginalized by the majority and stated that we are too “sensitive” about what occurs”
thank you for doing exactly what I said you do—-you have assumed that because of my color I have not experienced what you have. You are making a judgment based solely on my skin color. You have no idea what race I have dated, who I am married to nor how I have been received by various PARENTS AND FRIENDS of the women I have associated with. You also have never gone into a minority owned restaurant and been starred at like you don’t belong. And you dang sure have assumed that the cab drove by you because you are a minority, that the waitress ignored you because you didn’t look like her and that the security in the store only watches minorities.
You readily accept those reasons because that is what you have been told they are. You have apparently no desire to look at things from another s perspective, it’s all about what you perceive. I’ll ask you once again–tell me how you know the waitress is looking at you as a minority, did you ask ? How many minorities did she serve that day with no problems ?—you have no clue do you ? That in and of itself is fine tough–it’s called prejudice. What is not fine is for you to insist people are something that YOU define them to be based on your thoughts, all while you condemn THEM as racist bigots—for it sounds to me like you judge people by the group you associate them with, and that is exactly what you CONDEMN about conservatives and in particularly whites.
Tell me how does the throne of righteousness feel –are you comfortable ? I assume it’s in the middle of your glass house, so you can see everyone equally !
Mama Says
July 23rd, 2010
5:08 pm
By the way slaves were first brought to The new continent by the SPANISH–they were sold to the GEORGIA colonist at Sapelo Sound.
The rest is history as they say.
I will take ownership of my ancestors involvement in slavery when African Americans look at their true history and acknowledge the fact that tribal leaders in Africa were the main resource for the slave trade—they are the ones who kidnapped the members of other tribes and sold them to Whites.
That dosen’t ignore the treatment of slaves in Southerners hands but it does demand some consideration if we are truly looking to work this issue out.
With that factual history lesson—is it possible that some minorities have ancestors who sold slaves to the America’s ? I would say YES. Just as it’s possible that my ancestors were some of the 333,000 Northern, Midwestern and Western whites that died freeing slaves and keeping this country together, but that would throw a problem in your racism theory wouldn’t it ? That if they are white they are racist.
G Cancryn
July 23rd, 2010
5:26 pm
SIX PAGES OF COMMENTS AND COUNTING!!!!!!! That tells you that the fact that some people are lighter or darker in skin color than others is a huge issue. Race is the number one issue, especially in this town!!
G Cancryn
July 23rd, 2010
5:33 pm
I never heard anyone call another president uppity, ever. Many try to disguise their racism around the “issues”. They’re full of crap. If president Obama ran the country into the ground, and a white guy was left to clean it up, these racists would blame Obama (rightfully so) and be more patient. This president hasn’t even had 2 full years to fix a broken country, a country that took 8 years to break, and the racists are trying to blame him for everything.
G Cancryn
July 23rd, 2010
5:41 pm
As for slavery and institutionalized racism, Jim Crowe, Not allowing blacks to vote until the 1960’s predatory loans, or no loans at all, law enforcement profiling, Not hiring because of race, all types of racism for hundreds of years, racists want to ignore it, or say it’s in the past stuff like that. Many powerful companies that exist today were founded in a time when black people would never be allowed to receive the license or cooperation necessary to launch a company. So, this country is dominated by white companies and white people that really don’t care about race at all, they just want control, and they get it by keeping racists fueled with stuff like the edited speech that just blew through the country.
john
July 23rd, 2010
5:44 pm
G Cancryn:
Race has nothing to do with people hating Obama. Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress are single handling driving the US economy into the gound and spreading ultra liberal policies to a center to right country. That is why I and many can’t stand Obama. Don’t try to bring race into an issue. Oops, I forgot, that is what Democrats do best…
Living in Atlanta for the past 6 years I have come to one conclusion. African-Americans are
john
July 23rd, 2010
5:45 pm
Oops..
finish my sentence….African Americans are BY FAR more racists towards white people….its not even arguable.
killerj
July 23rd, 2010
6:06 pm
Bull s#it from one Jay to another Jay-GA> GOVERNOR RACE: Republicans for gov.-676,867.000…..Democrats for gov.-393,897.000…Sad day for Obama come november,go tea parties.
neo-Carlinist
July 23rd, 2010
6:25 pm
OK Scout, I’ll break it down. you wrote: “I can sent you to certain places in L.A., Chicago or Detroit where if you set foot you (if you are white) stand a good chance of not getting out alive” then asked; “what do you call that?” I simply replied that I would not call it “racism” – by your definition (what does “genetic superiority” have to do with the ability to commit murder?). I also suggest that I would “call that” a “crime” or “murder” – and I would further guess that the ethnic background of anyone in these ‘hoods (black, Hispanic, East Asian, Central Asian, Persians or Arab) would not determine his/her chances of survival. Just like there are areas in Mexico City where EVERYONE is at risk. I suspect the same is true in Somalia, parks of Kandahar, and maybe Moscow. No need to “decipher” my thoughts, just trying to help out with the words. Night, night
TruthBe
July 23rd, 2010
6:27 pm
Blacks are the MOST racist people in American and they have the groups and organizations to prove it. ( NAACP,CBC,Urban League, Black Churchs, Affirmative Action,New Black Panthers, Southern Poverty Law Center, and etc..) Also Downtown Atlanta, City Hall, and it’s Mayor.
Sandra
July 23rd, 2010
6:39 pm
There are racists in every race, every color and everywhere in the world. Racism is an equal opportunity virus.
RF
July 23rd, 2010
6:41 pm
Truthbe- and whites have the KKK, Neo-Nazis, those known as Skinheads, various militia groups, and places like Alpharetta, John’s Creek, and the list goes on and on. I attended a “black church” for a long time and was fully accepted as a white man, so strike that one off your list. Actually, they were much more open to me being there than many white churches would be to a minority showing up, IMO.
barking frog
July 23rd, 2010
6:42 pm
Racism means thinking your race is superior. I thought that was pride.
vuduchld
July 23rd, 2010
6:47 pm
So, I guess scum like Breitbart and Hoax News get yet another free pass to continue their “fair and balanced” bs. What is it going to it take for these sub-humans to be called out for destroying a person’s reputation with lies and more lies. I surely hope that Ms. Sherrod sues the pants off both of these clowns. They deserve it! And for the rest of you conservative, teabegger meth monkeys out there, keep watching and listening to this this drivel. All this does is expose you as the racists you’ve always been.
Sandra
July 23rd, 2010
6:59 pm
Vuduchld, I hope that you are not calling all conservatives and/or those who watch Fox racist. I am a conservative and I do occasionally watch Fox but I am not racist.
vuduchld
July 23rd, 2010
7:21 pm
@Sandra, It is what it is. I’m calling out all you conservatives because I keep haering this crap about being aganist President Obama’s policies when all the while there is a racist tinge to it.
The first teabegger convention was held in Nashville, TN where the KKK was born. The posters, speeches and now this incidient with Sherrod. Do you think that the average person is stupid? Glenn Beck with his meaningless ralmblings about Prsudent Obama being racist. Others comparing President Obama and his wife to monkeys. Show me where this isn’t racist. Hoax News dragging some black person from the sewer trying to promote their bogus agenda.
Sorry, I’ve lived in the south all my life and I know racists when I see them. How do I know? Because I grew up around alot tof these same people ranting against that “communist, socialist Obama” but me and others know the real story. So please, don’t give me that cop out. I’ve seen this so many times that it’s become laughable. You conseravtives are racists and it time you admit that you are…END OF STORY!
W
July 23rd, 2010
7:42 pm
LARRY CRAIG FOR PRESIDENT
Fred
July 23rd, 2010
7:54 pm
jewcowboy
July 23rd, 2010
3:08 pm
Hopefully you aren’t one of these as well:
I can’t say I liked that article too much JCB or your suggestion that I am as mindless as that guys mom, but I’ll play along I guess. Do us folks who AREN’T mindless neophytes to a political party scare you that are so much? Sorry, I said I’ll play so play I should.
Most Presidential elections aren’t about a choice on an airline between Chicken and fried crap with glass in it. Where did that a-hole come up with THAT imagery anyway? He must be an elitist because only first class gets meals served on flights nowadays. But we’ll let THAT slide.
Today the decision between candidates is between horse crap with glass in it and cow crap with glass in it. In the Bush/sKerry election, I chose the BS over the HS. Kerry slimed his fellow servicemen and besides, he is nothing more than a gigilo who is the lapdog or pet poodle of the rich stupid women he marries and exploits. This past election however I didn’t see it that way. Neither did the rest of the 40% of us thinking voters. We were all pretty much aligned with Barry and his message. After 8 years of President Bush, we didn’t see much use in voting for McSame. I’m STILL with President Obama. I don’t buy the negative hype and still have confidence in him.
But I still don’t get your portrayal of us who think rather than mindlessly vote along party lines. But then, you probably don’t get us who think either………
Sandra
July 23rd, 2010
8:01 pm
Vuduchld, I am absolutely livid now. How dare you. The only thing that you know about me so far is that I am a conservative that occasionally watches Fox. I am also not white!!! I am part white, part Vietnamese and part Native American and I have lived in the South most of my life. I currently live in the Uk but all of my family is in Georgia. Most of the time while growing up I lived in a small town where racism was rife and have been spat on, hit and threatened. My father was threatened with a gun and someone tried to knife one of my brothers in the back. Before you spot off your venom next time you should get your facts straight.
Fred
July 23rd, 2010
8:31 pm
Jo-nix (2 times): Interesting thought on the reparation plan. I can’t say I disagree. It mirrors something that our Jewish brothers would like to impose on Switzerland. I think thta one has legs.
As to the “good with the bad” thing? I’m all over taking the good with the bad, I’m just not all over taking the stupid or ridiculous with the good and the bad.
Dusty: Get over yourself already. You are meaningless to me. You have YET to refute anything I said, you just continue to hurl insults. It that REALLY the best you can do? I’m disappointed lol. I really see no need to respond to you further unless you have something intelligent to add to the conversation. As a newb here, I realize I don’t know ALL the dynamics, but it would appear to me so far that you really add nothing other than drive-by’s. I could be wrong. Maybe you ARE a Rhodes scholar or something just having an off week. But if i were forced at gunpoint at this juncture to make a judgment, I would surmise that you are a female with big boobies who wears low cut blouses and doesn’t really have to think very much, just flash a tit and get what you want. But like I said, I have been wrong before……………..
moonbat betty
July 23rd, 2010
11:10 pm
Fred, git over your self negro. Fred.
moonbat betty
July 23rd, 2010
11:11 pm
woohoo.
MARK
July 24th, 2010
5:35 pm
Hey Dont Forget, Obama took it off his site, said said there is no more room for applications…If you really believe that didnt come from His website, Ive got some ocean front in arizona for ya…Do your research idiot
ghostwriter
July 25th, 2010
12:29 pm
By the way, who brought up the race of John McCain’s adopted daughter in the 2000 South Carolina primary?
RF
July 25th, 2010
1:20 pm
@Mark: What I find interesting is that it’s only available on Atlasshrugs.com. Definitely not a neutral source, so I wonder at the authenticity of the document. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume it’s real. When I went and read the entire thing, there are lots of books on the reading list. Alinsky’s book mentions “excerpts” and I don’t think a speed reader could read everything on the list in a week.
I’m not a big fan of Alinsky after perusing what’s available about him online, but then it hit me. What he recommends is exactly what the party NOT in power generally does. Find an issue, start talking and creating fear and distress, find a person/group to blame, then create a group to discuss it, focus energy and emotion. and help spread the concern. If you think about it, it’s a successful process for getting people involved and ready to vote on emotion. That’s how elections are won. I realized that this isn’t a new or extreme strategy. This is exactly the way the Tea Party Movement got started- and we see the impact that is having and could have in November. Community organizing is only bad to the side opposed to it, if you think about it. In this cycle, it’s race, deficit, taxes, etc. All issues to get people polarized and fired up. Exactly as Alinsky would prescribe. Read his 11 rules for radicals. You could name prominent groups on both sides who have done or are doing almost exactly what he advises.
I’m not downing anyone for the tactics- just saying that both sides are doing essentially the same thing when trying to regain power. While written to a liberal audience in the early 70’s, the general guidelines apply for either party when trying to change the balance of power. Interesting thought…
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 25th, 2010
10:13 pm
Funny how it’s almost always Democrats and liberals focused on race. Republicans simply don’t care about race. Can’t you race-based haters move on?
Petgrooming Scissor Group » Ousted ag official unsure about returning to work – Washington Post
July 26th, 2010
7:23 am
[...] MonitorObama agenda: All about race…msnbc.com (blog)Race: Still Too Hot to TouchNew York TimesAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -Slate Magazine -Detroit Free Pressall 2,835 news [...]
realist
July 27th, 2010
1:19 pm
Obama does not appear to me to be “uppity or arrogant”. He is however, a mixture of many races but can only be classified as “black”. I consider this to be a lose on our part and a gain on the part that he is classified as….
PW
July 28th, 2010
8:10 am
I wholeheartedly agree with the majority of your column. I am astounded almost daily, when I read the comments of people to various articles and columns. If people really want to know the status of race relations in this country they just need to read those to be frightened of what faces us. Just here in GA in Lilburn we had a community wake up the other morning to racist spray painting on their homes, cars and property. It is sad and scary.