Racism Needs Dose Of Straight Talk
Once long ago no one talked about cancer. The word itself was rarely uttered. Obituaries dealt in euphemisms. She died after a long illness.
Betty Ford was one of the first to speak openly and honestly about her personal experiences with cancer. Others followed her lead. Our society grew more candid and everyone benefited. In many ways, we now communicate about race the way we once did about cancer. Awkwardly. Ineffectively.
Racism is a cancer, too. A cancer of the soul. And the same “plain talk” approach that helped us deal with cancer might help us deal with racism.
On one extreme, people speak outrageously of other ethnic groups and do not hide their hatred behind euphemisms. On the other extreme are those so afraid of offending others that they shut up entirely.
In the middle you find the jokes. In the recent issue of GQ magazine, author Mike Sager describes a drinking session he had with a North Idaho journalist and his girlfriend. While swigging butterscoth schnapps, the girlfriend tells jokes on blacks, gay people, Mexicans and Jews.
Seeing those jokes in print, right in your face, is shocking at first. Then you realize that, in private, most of us have already heard - or even told - some of the same jokes, or milder variations.
Today on the Perspective page you will find stories by Gita Sitaramiah and Putsata Reang. The two Spokesman-Review reporters wrote about their experiences being women of color in a newsroom and community that is predominately white. Relatively new to the Inland Northwest, the women describe the subtle form of racism they often encounter here.
They do not point fingers of blame. They do not claim to have any grand solution to the problem of racial tension. Instead, they recount their experiences. They write from the heart. Some of it is painful to read.
The stories opened up interesting conversations around our newsroom. One editor said: “I’m just a white, middle-aged guy. I don’t get it.” Another said he worries so much about saying the wrong thing to people of color that he says nothing.
Conversations about race in which people talk about their experiences differ from angry rhetoric, from jokes said in private. These from-the-heart conversations begin the journey to common ground, a journey marked by awkwardness and a struggle for words. Despite the discomfort, it’s worth trying in our families, churches, schools and workplaces.
The same candor that helped educate everyone about cancer is possible in discussions about race, whether you are black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Russian. It begins with these plain words: “This is what it’s like for me…”
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board