New Year Reflections, Part II (Race in America - A Tale of Two Perspectives)

Perhaps it's a result of age difference. Perhaps its a consequence of political differences. But two articles in major papers this Martin Luther KIng, Jr. weekend could not have more diametrically opposing viewpoints. One, by Ibram X. Kendi, a 35 year old professor at American University, has a theme of how racist America is and has always been, and that whites of all political persuasions, left and right, are in denial of their racism. (Op-Ed in the Sunday, January 14, 2018 New York Times) The other, by Shelby Steele, a 72 year old senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, has as its theme that blacks in America no longer suffer from the oppression of racism, because that oppression is over with. (Op-Ed in the 1/13-14 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal) Both men are black.

Kendi: "Begin with the eight presidents who held slaves while in the oval office. Then consider how Abraham Lincoln urged black people to leave the United States." "Thomas Jefferson was not a founding father of equality. He was a founding father of the heartbeat of denial that lives through both Mr. Trump's denials and the assertion that his racial views are abnormal for America and its presidents."

Steele refers to "a simple truth that is both obvious and unutterable: The oppression of black people is over with. This is politically incorrect news, but it is true nonetheless." After acknowledging that there is still racism - "racism is endemic to the human condition" - Steele states that racism is now "recognized as a scourge, as the crowning immorality of our age and our history." Steele says that blacks then were "confronted with a new problem: the shock of freedom." Steele: "Freedom holds us accountable no matter the disadvantages we inherit from the past."

After discussing how Nixon developed a new strategy to get support from voters who would not have to admit to their racism, Kendi says: "A new vocabulary emerged, allowing users to evade admissions of racism. It still holds fast after all these years. The vocabulary list includes these: law and order. War on drugs. Model minority. Reverse discrimination. Race-neutral. Welfare queen. Handout. Tough on crime. Personal responsibility. Black-on-black crime. Achievement gap. No excuses. Race card. Colorblind. Post-racial. Illegal immigrant. Obamacare. War on Cops. Blue Lives Matter. All Lives Matter. Entitlements. Voter fraud. Economic anxiety. The denials using these phrases come from both conservatives and white liberals."

Steele: "For any formerly oppressed group, there will be an expectation that the past will somehow be an excuse for difficulties in the present." "We end up giving victimization the charisma of black authenticity. Suffering, poverty and underdevelopment are the things that make you 'truly black.' Success and achievement throw your authenticity into question." "The near-hysteria around the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray and others is also a hunger for the excuse of racial victimization, a determination to keep it alive."

Steele: "And you would feel this abstract, fabricated oppression as if it were your personal truth, the truth around which your character is formed. Watching the antics of Black Lives Matter is like watching people literally aspiring to black victimization, longing for it as for a consummation." Kendi: "Only racists say they are not racist. Only the racist lives by the heartbeat of denial."

The Truth-Uncensored: I chose to allow these two black scholars to present their viewpoints without any intervening commentary by me. Ultimately, the reader will decide which one makes the most sense, and states the most truth. From my viewpoint, I go by how I lived my own life. Looking forward, not backward. Doing the best that you can given whatever your circumstances may be. Telling young people that they can achieve whatever they want if they work hard enough. Substantial gains and changes have occurred in American society over the last nearly 70 years. By focusing on those positive changes, instead of the negative history, we give an uplifting message. That does not mean we forget the past. No, we learn from it and go forward - with an attitude of optimism, not victimization. And, we judge others as my mother taught me, and as Martin Luther King told all of us, by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.