Black
Vs. White-Can We Talk?
by
Laurence A. Elder
Two years have passed since the deaths
of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. After the O.J. Simpson
verdict, President Clinton proposed a commission to study racial polarization.
This idea, like so many other Clinton gems, had a shelf life of about
a week. Good thing. Let's face it, many blacks don't want "dialogue."
A white friend employs a young black man. During
the O.J. Simpson case, she and he watched the trial. Based on the
evidence, they both thought him guilty. When, however, they watched
as the jury announced its verdict, the young black man cheered. Startled,
my friend said, "But Aaron, you said he was guilty." He responded,
"I do, but....." He didn't complete the sentence.
Harvard's African American Studies Department
Chairman, Henry Louis Gates, once said "[because of white racism],
when I walk into a room, people still see my blackness, more than
my Gates-ness, or my literary-ness."
Then there's Karen Russell, the Harvard Law
grad daughter of former basketball great Bill Russell. "[I] am a black
woman. I am a child of privilege, and I am angry... How am I supposed
to react to well-meaning, good liberal white people who say things
like.... 'you're one of my good friends, and I never think of you
as black.' Implicit in such a remark is 'I think of you as white'
or perhaps just 'I don't think of your race at all.' Racial neutrality
is a wonderful concept, but we are a long way from achieving it. In
the meantime, I would hope that people wouldn't have to negate my
race in order to accept me."
See, Gates is angry because people see black,
and Russell is angry because they don't. (Don't try to understand,
it's a "black thing.")
Dialogue?
Black columnist Hardy Brown, writing in the
Riverside, California, "Black Voice News": "The American government
and corporate America find it difficult to halt the ethnic cleansing
in Bosnia, because they are engaging in ethnic cleansing here in America."
(Say, care to name names?)
Jim Cleaver, in the black news weekly "Los Angeles
Sentinel": "Make no mistake about it, the Klan is alive and well in
Southern California and there is a good chance that many of the CEO's
who sit in powerful positions could either be Klan members or Klan
sympathizers."
Black California State Senator Diane Watson,
in attacking black University of California Regent Ward Connerly for
his refusal to endorse affirmative action: "He's married to a white
woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has
no ethnic pride. He doesn't want to be black." (Imagine Bob Dole attacking
Phil Gramm because Gramm's wife is Korean-America. No, let's not imagine.)
Black New York Congressman Charles Rangel on
the GOP: "They don't say 'Spic' or 'Nigger' anymore, they just say
'let's cut taxes.'"
Dialogue?
In his book on the O.J. Simpson case, Robert
Shapiro writes of his clash with Johnnie Cochran over Cochran's repeated
use of the race card. "You don't understand, Bob," said Cochran, "because
you're not black." (End of discussion.)
Black Congresswoman Maxine Waters once called
then President George Bush a "racist." (Apparently, no grounds necessary.)
Retired black Appellate Judge Leon Higginbotham attacks Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas because Thomas has forgotten how to "think
black." (Guess Thomas thought his job was to interpret the Constitution.)
Dialogue?
Former Los Angeles Dodgers front office executive
Al Campanis gave a rambling explanation on the lack of black managers.
They "lack the necessities," he said. For that "dialogue," he got
canned.
Former sports analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder
gave a boozy explanation on why some black athletes perform so well.
For that "dialogue," he, too, got beheaded.
Dialogue?
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan attended a
ceremony honoring Martin Luther King before a predominantly black
crowd. For his effort, he got attacked by a speaker, and then booed
by the crowd. Why? Well, the mayor publicly criticized--not without
merit--some black officials. (Obviously, Hizzoner's a racist.)
Oh, sure, many Blacks say they want "dialogue."
But as one of my white friends put it, "It doesn't matter what I say,
how I say it, or how fair I've tried to be. I'm damned if I do, damned
if I don't. Hey, meanwhile, I got bills to pay."
Aristotle said it best: "Anyone can become angry--that
is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree,
at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way -this
is not easy."
We have few guarantees in life. One comes to
mind. Guess who will be called an Uncle Tom for writing this article?
Dialogue, anyone?