By the end of President Bill Clinton’s town hall meeting on race in
early December, his audience had deteriorated to platitudes and
cliches. I half-expected Rodney King to jump out of the Akron audience
and plead, again, “Can’t we all just get along?”
Don’t get me wrong. Although I’m a skeptic, I hope the President’s
Advisory Board on Race can make some difference in our nation’s racial
climate and, more importantly, offer initiatives that will close the
racial economic gap. But some of the conversation seemed so hackneyed
and tired that I was almost overwhelmed by my sense of deja vu: “Been
there, done that, had that conversation before.”
At the end of the President’s race summit, the audience started
bringing up home truths and basics. It depends on home environment,
they said. It depends on education. People talk about home environment
and education as if they are things to be settled in a vacuum. If
people had more education, some say, there would be less racism. If
people had better home environments, there would be a bit less too.
I found myself frustrated by the way the conversation had drifted,
and found myself wondering whether race-talk can really make a
difference. Do we really change minds and hearts through conversation?
Are people actually honest in their thoughts? And what happens when
they express thoughts that are hurtful or “politically incorrect?”
The President’s Advisory Board on Race reconvened in Virginia, on
December 17 at Annandale High School in Fairfax County – a high school
in a district that Clinton has touted as remarkable for its racial
tolerance. Although much of the conversation was reported as rather
benign, this meeting was marred by an ugly outburst from a White man
(with reported ties to David Duke) who vocalized that which has been
unspeakable.
“We’re going to be a minority soon,” he shouted disruptively. “There’s no one up there that’s talking about the White people!”
Robert Hoy, the White man with attitude, was escorted from the
school auditorium by police officers, but conversation about his point
continued. Some people felt Hoy’s point was well taken, if only because
he said things that others feel, but do not say.
