Showing Your Colors ‘Race Is The Number One Problem. Why? Because We Don’t Talk About It,’ Says Race Relations Expert

It’s hard enough to talk about race.

But political correctness has made it even harder, said Lee Jones, an associate dean at Florida State University.

“We have become so politically correct that we don’t know what to say and when to say it,” Jones said Tuesday during a lecture at Spokane Community College. “We don’t know what to say to anyone anymore.”

As part of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Spokane’s community colleges, Jones talked to more than 200 people about race relations and being “politically incorrect in a politically correct society.” His presentation will be repeated today at Spokane Falls Community College.

“What was the first thing you noticed about me when I walked into the room?” he asked students.

They mentioned his green jacket and manner of dress. They noticed his glasses, his youthful appearance, the way he talked. One person talked about his skin color.

“I’m an African American man,” said Jones, the former director of Washington State University’s multicultural student services. “Some of you were afraid to articulate it because of political correctness.

“We get so hung up on language…. Race is the number one problem. Why? Because we don’t talk about it.”

Black or African American? Latino or Hispanic? Most people don’t know which words to use anymore, he said. The fear is keeping them silent, stopping them from talking about race relations.

But some people also claim to be “colorblind,” Jones said. When they see him, he said, they say they don’t notice his skin color. By doing that, they’re not acknowledging a part of his identity.

“When you say you don’t see color, you are denying who I am,” Jones said as he walked around the room. “You are denying the very essence of my soul … my entire being.”

Blacks and whites see the world differently, he said. So it’s frustrating when African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and other minority groups aren’t represented.

For an hour and a half, Jones challenged audience members to take responsibility for their actions and examine what they’re doing to get along with others. “We all are at a healing process,” he said.

He also talked about the cycle of oppression, how people of different ethnicities view the world and ways to create an ethnically sensitive environment.

At 31, Jones has earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate. The former host of “Your Voice Talk Show,” which aired weekly in Pullman, Jones is now the associate dean for instruction and an associate professor for educational leadership at Florida State University.

“He’s right,” said Koley Shankle, a 20-year-old SCC student. “There’s so much political correctness that you can’t be yourself anymore. You can’t even call a person black.”

Another student, Jarett Robbins, said he found encouragement in Jones’ words. “I liked what he said about openness toward all people.”

Because we’re all different, it’s not fair to ask people to “check their ethnicity at the door,” Jones said. To “assimilate” is to lose part of yourself. Instead, he tolerates others, he said.

We don’t have to understand people, Jones said. It’s OK to disagree. But everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

“I want to take Martin’s dream to a different level,” Jones said of Martin Luther King Jr. “We need to show multiple realities for all people living in America.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: LECTURE TIME “How To Be Politically Incorrect in a Politically Correct Society,” a lecture by Lee Jones of Florida State University, will be repeated at 11:30 a.m. today at Spokane Falls Community College’s SUB Lounges A and B.