The Racial Conversation is Broken

Let me preface this by saying, I'm not getting into the particulars of the George Floyd killing. The video makes it clear what happened and while there is certainly reason to question why it took so long to bring charges against the main officer who had his knee on Floyd's neck or why the other officers involved in that incident weren't also charged, that is for the wheels of justice to sort out. This post is meant to take a broad look at things, which I feel is especially fitting given that fact that so much of the 'race' narrative in this country is about painting with as broad of a brush as you can. To start, here are some statements:

Statement: Some white people like Nickelback, so therefore most white people must like Nickelback.

Statement: Some black people like fried chicken, so therefore most black people must like fried chicken.

Statement: Some white people think that Corvettes are cool, therefore most white people must think that Corvettes are cool.

Statement: Some black people think that Michael Jackson is the greatest singer of all time, so most black people must think that Michael Jackson is the greatest singer of all time.

Statement: Some white people come from rich families and have more access so therefore most white people must come from well-to-do backgrounds and have more access.

One can easily see the ridiculousness of the first 4 statements. People, of all races and colors, are complex. Just because some white people like Nickelback doesn't mean most do, and it certainly doesn't mean that you have to be white to like Nickelback. Nickelback sucks - on that fact, most of us can agree! Similarly, just because some black people like fried chicken, doesn't mean that every black person likes fried chicken or that you have to be black in order to enjoy fried chicken. Some people like Corvettes while others like Mustangs and still others like Cadillacs. Some people who like Cadillacs would never buy a Corvette, they just don't like them. A lot of people, from a lot of different backgrounds believe Michael Jackson to be one of the greatest artists of all-time - but some people don't like his music. Some people like old-school rap, or they like metal, or they like hip-hop or even classical (gasp!).

Why is it so easy to see how ridiculous the first 4 statements are but not see how ridiculous the last one is? And this is the broad brush I'm talking about. I grew up in suburban Minneapolis - Brooklyn Park, just northwest of Minneapolis. My high-school, Park Center, used to have a nickname, "Dark Center". It was a racial moniker that told the story of how diverse the student population was (and still is, as far as I know). The population surrounding that school was solidly middle and lower-middle class. It was easy to see how some kids came from stable families and other kids came from broken homes, but that divide wasn't necessarily along racial lines - I knew plenty of white kids who were fatherless or who had been abused growing up.

My parents taught me and my siblings to respect everyone, no matter their station or color of their skin. My neighborhood itself, about 2 miles from the school, was as diverse as you'll see in the suburbs. From an early age, the mix of kids that one would find on any given summer day consisted of several races and colors.

When I was in 7th grade, I was walking home from school after track practice and I saw two older kids behind me but could tell from the way they were eyeing me that something was up - it was like they were watching me. I switched sides of the road, they switched sides of the road. I did it again, they did it again - finally, I stopped, turned around and asked them what they wanted. They said they wanted my money and I said, "I'm in 7th grade, I don't have any money!" - they asked about my Casio Ironman watch I was wearing and I said, "you can have it, just leave me alone!" Naturally, this incident rattled me some as a 13-year-old kid. The two kids happened to be black, but I didn't harbor any resentment against all black people because of this incident. I understood that these two kids likely came from a home that didn't look like my own, that they didn't have parents looking after them and caring for them like mine did, and that their actions were their own.

The racial conversation in this country is broken. People talk about 'white privilege' as if they can even define what that is in a country of 330 million people. What does it mean for someone like me? That because I have good parents who raised me well, that's white privilege? What about the black kids I knew who had good families growing up? Do they have privilege? Do all kids who have supportive parents turn out great? Did I have any inherent advantage because of my white-ness? If I did, would there be any way to quantify that? Would there by any way to quantify someone else's disadvantage? I went to a college where being a white male meant that I had the lowest chance of getting accepted (preference was given to women and people of color). I have a job that doesn't require a degree of any kind and for which the entry barriers are low, anyone could do what I do and be good at it if they put their mind to it. White privilege doesn't cause the silence of three police officers (two of whom weren't white!) against their colleague...no, that's just people of low character...that and a culture of fear, which has been perpetuated within the police force of this country, that promotes protectionism.

The fact is, there are bad people in this world, and that is a story as old as Cain killing Abel. In my opinion, the real problem, or at least one that is something we could actually make great strides toward fixing, is the issue of protectionism that exists within the police force. They need to do a better job of looking at each other objectively and better at rooting out the bad ones from within. I say 'they' because you and me, regular Joe, don't typically have many interactions with the police. We don't know who the goods ones are vs. the bad ones. If I'm a bad dude, and I'm just some Joe Schmoe IT guy or a plumber or accountant, my opportunity to actually hurt (much less kill) someone is not very high. If, however, I have a gun and the weight of the law behind me and I'm a bad dude, the chances of that leading to a situation where someone loses their life become much higher. Are there regular-guy nut-jobs out there who are raving racists? Absolutely, no question. But does that describe your typical person? By no means. 'Racism' is too big a problem to tackle - which isn't to say we shouldn't be working to eliminate it, but it will take longer that we have in our lifetimes. We need to focus on solvable problems. To stand there and scream that everyone that doesn't look like you is racist against you just turns off every reasonable person you're trying to reach. Similarly, shouting that everyone else that doesn't look like you must have some inherent advantage also causes reasonable people to stop listening. For some of those people it may be true, but for a majority of us, we don't see the evidence of that in real life.

My silence is not complicity - me adding my voice at this moment, will help nothing. George Floyd's death is a tragedy on a number of levels. Period. The voice I raise is with my children - by teaching them to respect all people, no matter their background, and to teach them of the sanctity of human life. It means being introspective about my feelings and attitudes towards other people and being honest with myself in asking if I treat other people well, no matter their background or status. It means speaking up in a situation where I can have direct influence - if someone is either a) espousing a racist attitude to me or around me or b) treating someone else unfairly or unjustly in my presence.

I have no problem with peaceful protesting - people have a 1st amendment right to speak up and quite honestly, the Minneapolis Police Department deserves every bit of criticism they are facing right now. The looting and rioting though? Don't call that a protest - don't give those people the dignity of such a label. They are animals - whether white, black or whatever - anyone who would destroy another person's property or hurt someone else because they are angry, is acting like an animal. Being angry is no excuse. Besides, they are distracting from the fact that an innocent man was killed. The anger is understandable - but it is not an excuse to perpetrate crime.

We need to be taking a serious look at the culture of law enforcement in this country. If protectionism exists, how do we reduce it or get rid of it? How do we promote a culture of high character and accountability? How do we make sure that people who shouldn't have a gun and a badge don't ever get one? We could ask that about a number of levels of government while we're at it. Until we start to ask these questions - I predict this parade of tragedies will continue. Raving about white privilege will not fix anything because if it does indeed exists, it's too pervasive, it's a mountain of a problem. Some of the toxic elements within the culture of law enforcement? To me that seems like a smaller problem to tackle - still large, but a more feasible thing to fix.