by Danae Jones Aicher
As I watched President Barack Obama talk about the need for health care reform the other night, I had almost put aside that nagging gnawing in the pit of my stomach that came with earlier news of the arrest of Harvard professor, Dr. Henry Louis Gates. Then came that final question from a reporter. I thought, “Surely he’ll pass.” He didn’t. Instead, he acknowledged a friendship with Gates, admitted he didn’t have all the facts, and then he said he thought the police action was stupid. It’s not that I disagree, I just didn’t expect the President to be quite so honest about his feelings. And while I regret the political and social backfire he’s getting as a result, I’m glad that at least our Commander-in-Chief was willing to be human and honest about the issue while it seems few other public officials, including or especially the pundits, are willing to be.
In many ways we’re a much more civil society than we were 60 years ago. The racists of yesterday are quickly dying off. At least in blatant behavior. There are more multiethnic neighborhoods (and few cross burnings). Schools, by and large, are desegregated. We work together and some people even have bosses who are ethnic minorities. And, as a newcomer to Hampton Roads, I’ve been told on more than one occasion that the diversity here brought by the military is evidence of a different America. I usually just smile, nod and say, “I hope so”.
Like many people here, I’ve lived in a relative variety of different places- some more metropolitan, some less- although I’m not at all affiliated with the military. From what I can tell, the United States military and our community do a good job of giving our service men and women and their families a network of support and sense of belonging. My husband and I don’t benefit from that luxury, so I speak from an admittedly challenged perspective of having to navigate the waters of being a newbie in Hampton Roads. As I note the diversity of the area, I wonder if we haven’t lulled ourselves into a false sense of security- of satisfactory progress when it comes to race relations.
It just seems that, once again, politics- and it seems, egos- are getting in the way of a real and possibly healing conversation on race. (Read more on this at BearingDrift.com).
Danae Jones Aicher is a former journalist-turned political communications advisor. She now offers political and social commentary for BearingDrift.com and is working on a book about raising biracial children.
Photo credit, Harvard University