Friday, June 06, 2008

Does Race Still Matter In America?


Tomorrow I'll be moderating a panel at Green Acre Baha'i School as part of a day long Race Unity Symposium. I'll be blogging about the symposium next week but wanted to give my readers a chance to participate "virtual" in this discussion. The basis of the panel will be a piece from USA Today that was published in February of this year. I'll include the entire piece here for your review:

A son’s wisdom on a post-racial world

By Mohammad Ali Salih

I wasn’t ready for my son’s harsh words when our family went out for dinner last week. We were talking about the elections and, specifically, the competition between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

I asked my son, a twenty-something Democrat and Obama supporter, two questions. “Why do you favor Obama?” With his mother and two sisters listening, he offered the usual arguments about “change,” “unity” and that Obama didn’t vote for the Iraq war. Then I asked: “Are you supporting Obama because he is biracial like you?” His angry response: “I knew you were going to ask about race. ... And I understand that, because of your age (I am in my 60s) and your background (an immigrant from Sudan). But, Dad, you need to wake up to the new thinking about race in America.” He added, “It is not about being racial; it is not about being biracial; it is about being post-racial.”

I twice repeated the question. My wife, a white Southern conservative Republican, intervened: “Don’t you understand what your son has told you? Why do you want him to think the way you think?”

My college daughter agreed with her brother, but the high-schooler didn’t want to talk about race or politics but about Cloverfield and Hannah Montana.

I have always wanted my children to be proud of their mixed race. Since they were young, I’ve read them books about biracials, told them to write “biracial” whenever they filled out forms and paid special attention to the other biracial kids they hung out with.

Before teaching them about their identity, I had to find mine. When I came to Washington, D.C., in 1980, I was ambivalent about the racial divisions. After I became a U.S. citizen 10 years later, though, I started searching for my identity. I didn’t want to be part of the white guilt/black victimization syndrome. It took me 10 more painful years to realize that the color of my skin doesn’t dictate my identity. I found faith in Islam as the core of my identity. That and being an American.

Yet I didn’t think about the contradiction that, although I had “liberated” myself from having race as part of my identity, I wanted my children to belong not only to one race but to two — until my son’s lecture. His message is now clear: not only that race doesn’t matter, but mixed race also doesn’t matter. And the new “post-race” thinking could be equivalent to “no race.”

A country without racial divisions. What a concept.

Mohammad Ali Salih is a correspondent based in Washington, D.C., for major Arabic newspapers and magazines in the Middle East.

Now you get to respond to the same questions that will be addressed to the panelists tomorrow:

Having read the story detailed in this column, please respond to the following questions:

1. If you were speaking with the son from this story how would you respond to his opinions about race? Would you agree or disagree with him. Why?

2. If you were speaking with the father from this story how would you respond to his perspective on race? Would you agree or disagree with him? Why?

3. The father mentions finding Islam as the core of his identity rather than “skin color”. How important is religion/spirituality in addressing issues of race and racism in American society?

I hope you'll join in this conversation by leaving lots of comments and engaging with each other, especially if you haven't commented on this blog before. I look forward to hearing what you all think. I also encourage you to engage in this discussion with other people in your life and share what you learn from those discussions.



Share |
Posted by Phillipe Copeland at 9:07 PM

13 comments:

  1. 1. I'm in my mid-30's rather than my 60's but I still think that the son is being a bit naive. The Obama candidacy and his success so far definitely indicate that a lot of progress has been made but it also indicates that that we still have a ways to go before society in general can be called transracial. In terms of the campaign one could still point to what seems to be going on with "white working class" voters in Appalachia for instance. A smaller example of a racial gap is the fact that Michelle and Barack giving each other dap (or a pound) sparked a surprising (to me at least) amount of commentary ... ("what is this fist thing they did... is that a new way of greeting?")

    2. I feel old fashioned now... if I had a biracial child I would want them to understand their whole family and their entire history but I would raise a black-white biracial child to call themselves Black.

    3. It is hard to unpack your question/statement. Yes, I think religion/spirituality is an important component in addressing issues of race/racism. That's what happened with the original civil rights movement. And I think other social justice movements definitely gather strength, motivation, energy, guidance, etc. from a spriritual foundation.

    But that seems like a different question from thinking about how religious identity fits into identity politics.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Abdu'l-Halim V., say more about that last part "how religious identity fits into identity politics." How are those questions different? Why is the son in this story naive? Why would you raise your black-white child to believe that he/she is black? Thanks for getting things going. Tell us more my brother.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Phillipe,

    Thank you for the story, it is superb. As Baha'is we are called to unity, not hyphenation. If we have our identity, not as Baha'is - although that may be an undercurrent - but as members of the only family on the planet, we can know/share/experience freedom and fellowship.

    The gene pool is being slowly and delightfully stirred in the US. Like adding a dollop of red to a can of green paint, first the stirring creates swirls and eddies of red-in-green, but eventually a new color, neither red nor green is formed.

    That is the real "single drop test". Can we see each drop as adding to the whole, rather than defining it?
    ReplyDelete
  4. Reed,

    How do you square the statement "we are called to unity, not hyphenation" with the phrase "unity in diversity"?
    ReplyDelete
  5. Malik,

    "Unity in diversity" is different than "Unity despite diversity" which is often the subvocal theme.

    We each have cultural contributions to this new world as well as contributions in language, art, sciences, etc. Each of these diverse elements might destroy our Baha'i cohesion, but instead they serve to complete it. It is like consultation - we offer our thoughts to the group and they are no longer our own.

    Perhaps the greatest sense of "Unity in Diversity" is the result of the independent investigation of truth. My view of a particular truth may differ from yours, but they are both legitimate as long as we allow them to exist to promote unity, not division.

    JMO
    ReplyDelete
  6. Phil,

    Thanks for extending this opportunity to participate to us. I hope our responses are fruitful.

    1. First, I would ask the son why he reacted so strongly about the question. I think more important than changing his views is engaging him in understanding them. A dramatic transformation isn't always needed or necessarily desirable to create true understanding, and even it happens, its not for me to decide how, when and where.

    Also, I want to understand more what is meant by post-racial. This term doesn't make sense to me, and I need it explained.

    I don't think it's possible to remove or ignore race as an issue yet. There's just too much injustice, reinforced by subtle and pervasive division. And I think it's sad that people like this young man, who could be the greatest proponents of transformation, aren't willing to take the issue on anymore. My mother seems to have dozens of stories about growing up a Baha'i in the sixties and the focus on overcoming racial barriers. It seems like it was the primary focus of the nation.

    What has changed? Are we, this new generation of adults, afraid to cop to racism in our society? Are we wary of what we've seen our parents deal with? Are we weary of what we've seen our parents deal with? Are we so aware the unacceptability of racism that we refuse to acknowledge it?

    I don't know. I would like to talk the young man about all of this but slowly, in a loving and gentle manner, and o

    2. As for the father, I would remind him that racism isn't just about prejudice, it's also about justice, power, freedom, and understanding. Also, because we are all linked together no part of society can be free from racism until all of society is free from it. Lastly, I would praise him for celebrating diversity and encouraging his children to embrace it.

    3. Religion, with its dimensions of love, faith, prayer/meditation, social influence and community life, is a powerful tranformative force, or the resultant of many forces coming together.

    "Bahá’u’lláh has drawn the circle of unity, He has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto us. Leave all thought of self, and strive only to be obedient and submissive to the Will of God. In this way only shall we become citizens of the Kingdom of God, and attain unto life everlasting." -‘Abdu’l-Bahá

    By the way, who is going to be on the panel?
    ReplyDelete
  7. So many things to think about...
    My first thoughts (before I organize them to answer the questions posed) are that race has multiple meanings and connections from our individual and collective identities to our individual and collective positions of power. Familial history, tastes (musical, food, etc.), material dispositions (clothing choice, accessories, etc.), and a whole sort of subtle, daily items are labeled, advertised, sold, and bought through the lens of race. Is this a matter of seeing the world through a particularly old set of proverbial glasses or are we in a transition from one set of prescription glasses to another?

    Now on to the questions...
    1. If you were speaking with the son from this story how would you respond to his opinions about race? Would you agree or disagree with him. Why?

    I would ask for more information from him. I need to understand what he means by 'post-racial'. The phrase is meaningful to him, so I need more clarification so that I have greater empathy. If he means that now is the time to look beyond race and ignore injustices due to its application, then I question the logic. It seems that the son wishes to ignore race so as to not relive the past injustices and to reach a more enlightened future. He may have admirable intentions, but acknowledging reality is not the same as reinforcing the past and limiting the future.

    2. If you were speaking with the father from this story how would you respond to his perspective on race? Would you agree or disagree with him? Why?

    I would want to know more about his emphasis on the significance of his children being biracial. Why is it important to him and possibly for the greater society?

    3. The father mentions finding Islam as the core of his identity rather than “skin color”. How important is religion/spirituality in addressing issues of race and racism in American society?

    Religion should be the cause of unity among all peoples. This unity should not be uniformity, rather unity in diversity. Recently, I gave a talk on the Baha'i Faith - 'Vision: Our Destiny'. In it, I asked those in attendance to consider Baha'i not as a religion, not as a philosophy, but as a vision for our common destiny. How does it frame identifiers such as race, nationalism, etc. for the progress of humanity? Is it that race is unimportant or important in a different sense? I think we struggle we issues of race because we are in transition. We are growing beyond what defines the past to what defines the future, and yet, we must live in the present and bridge the two as best we can. Religion/spirituality should help us identify and deal with injustices in this physical realm, including those based on the physical aspect of race. Which leads me to consider (and perhaps you) - is there a spiritual aspect of race?
    ReplyDelete
  8. I wanted to offer two ideas: Reconciliation of the races within us and spiritualizing our DNA.

    I so wish I could have been at Green Acre for the live discussion. I’m certain it was valuable and we look forward to hearing a summary of the consultation.

    The range of issues this father/son discussion raises are so diverse. Is it possible that racism has shifted from being what Shoghi Effendi called America’s ‘most vital and challenging issue’? I think most in this blog are in agreement that the structural manifestations of racism effectively ensure the continuation of inequalities and have not vanished as an issue. But I wanted to briefly identify a powerful and positive aspect of racial diversity that is often neglected in such discussions. Exploring that with my son might empower him to feel more connected to the importance of race in this day and age. Out of dozens of examples I want to draw on two to highlight neglected aspects of the discussion, both in the wider community and in the Baha’i community.

    I once spent some time with a Maori community in the rainforest in the central north island of New Zealand. Their tribal name translates as ‘children of the mist’. We had a meeting of Indigenous leaders from around the world in preparation for a larger conference in Wellington. We were all sitting on the floor together sharing our histories and stories to build bonds of unity and vision. The presiding elder of the community said something which I believed at the time, but his voice infused the concept with a level of consciousness, nobility and beauty which I hold dear. He said in effect that as each of us comes together our ancestors meet. As we exchange gifts, they exchange gifts. This is a fairly standard Indigenous belief around the world. He then said that within each of us are represented ancestors of different races and that meeting takes place on another level within us. It was this idea that stunned me with its beauty and potential implications. There is an exchange of gifts, sharing of wounds, and invitation to reconcile and heal that takes place WITHIN us. To deny our ancestry and remain ignorant of both the unique gifts and wounds will lessen our conscious participation in that internal opportunity of reconciliation and we only stumble through life perhaps unconsciously encountering them at special moments. For me one of the most beautiful aspects of this honouring of ancestors is that I am conscious that they have an active relationship with me here and now. They are more intimately aware of the subtle aspects of justice than I am, yet I have the opportunity to act on their behalf in this world in remaining open to their guidance in prayer

    “In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition. Pray for them as they pray for you! When you do not know it, and are in a receptive attitude, they are able to make suggestions to you...” Abdul-baha

    Although this spiritual aspect is beyond racial issues, the ‘moving beyond race’ idea can potentially alienate us from this consciousness by numbing us to the both the unique gifts of spirit, culture and mind inherited by our ancestors, as well as the burdens and wounds we carry.

    The second issue I wanted to mention is something I am writing a research paper on, “Spiritualizing our DNA” which I think may be too long for a blog comment, but I will try to simplify one aspect here.

    I recall having an intuition some years ago that it is likely that behaviour can influence gene expression in ways that subsequently create new expressions of genetically modified hereditary behaviour.

    I have been begun reading in the area (e.g. S.M. Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology 2nd ed.) and am excited to see that it has recently been established in traditional circles that behaviour (and not just environment and random external events) can significantly influence gene splicing, but didn't see an exploration of whether this might in turn affect the phenotype. I feel confident it must be so, and am excited by the possibility of these discoveries catalysing new and important discourses about evolution and behaviour, individually and culturally. Current research indicates a strong likelihood that the limits of genomic plasticity in behaviour extend to influencing phenology. This can occur on both the social and individual level. For this discussion on race this translates into the fact that those gifts and wounds are within us not just as an abstract spiritual reality but as a physical and mental reality. To ignore that is to choose not to ‘know thyself’. It also raises the exciting possibility that our individual choices can cause a reconciliation between races within us that has effects upon our hereditary DNA as well as upon ourselves. Our choice to practice virtues may not only improve our character, but contribute to the spiritualization of the evolutionary process of humanity.

    I hope these two ‘outside the square’ thoughts help stimulate the discussion towards embracing the gifts of race.

    Chris J.K.
    ReplyDelete
  9. Sorry, I haven't been around...lol...

    you had asked about how religion/spirituality relates to and addresses race/racism. What I meant is that sometimes members of a religious group will claim some sort of minority identity. But another way religion can play a role is in providing a framework or a perspective (e.g. a basic belief in human equality, inspiration to action, compassion, patience, ethical principals to guide social change etc.)

    I would say the son was being naive
    because race and racism is still a factor even though improvements have been achieved. In terms of why follow the one-drop rule, I think that people of visible African descent who don't call themselves Black will be strongly resented by the Black community and will necessarily have a strained relationship with it. Plus, I think going the Tiger Woods route and calling yourself Cabalasian will get you laughed at.
    ReplyDelete
  10. Some very interesting theories and points have been presented. I, too, look forward to a summary of the Greenacre discussion.

    Some of the posts above indicate a strong desire to identify oneself according to one's ancestors. Genealogy can be fascinating, but assigning attributes to oneself because of actions of one's progenitors is conjecture at best and self-deluding at worst. Consider Dicken's fictional dinner scene where the "bloods" are discussing their ancestry - "Blood, blood, blood!". If I recall Dicken's observation, it compared them to carrots - "the best part of them was underground."

    Due to the overall transient nature of US households - movement of the nuclear family away from any semblance of an extended family - fewer have a sense of their family line. Many of us are mutts - my grandparents came here from four very different cultures and assimilated themselves as quickly as possible. What label do we put on such as me - multi-ethnic? multi-racial? black? white? Hispanic?

    Which brings forward the question - does the Baha'i Faith promote division by color/ethnicity, or celebrate the unique qualities of each individual? For if you insist upon others identifying you with a color and a past (that may not even be your own), you make it difficult for them to also see the individual within you. (We all strive for simple categories for objects - and people - in the world around us. Adding database tables for each discrete entity is more work than most of us are willing to invest. :)

    Warm Baha'i regards,
    Reed
    ReplyDelete
  11. Since I feel like the last comment was directed at me I feel like adding that I'm generally loathe to attributes like intelligence, creativity, etc. to ancestry. I'm mostly a nurture person more than nature.

    In terms of your rhetorical question, as someone who is also pretty obviously of African and European ancestry (by way of Latin America) who grew up in the United States I would say I'm Black and Latino (Cuban-American). I think it would be silly for someone who looks like me to say that they are "white" but I do try to learn about Spanish history.

    I'm not sure about your background but if you share maybe we could talk about what labels you choose to use.

    In terms of the Bahai faith, I think that the options set up in the last full paragraph are a more than a bit slanted. One could also ask does the Bahai faith acknowledge and recognize the different histories and experiences of different racial and cultural groups, or does it attempt to cover up those distinctions under a superficial kind of unity?

    I'm not saying that I would advocate this way of asking the question but I do want to get you think about it in more than one way.

    I don't know if the website is still up but there was a site which posted a number of quotes from the Central Figures about Black folks and some of them are not very PC (I actually find some offensive or unrealistic)
    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Abdul-Harim V.,
    I wasn't directing the post at you. In fact the concept of assigning positive attributes/virtues through ancestry was presented by someone else. While this may seem like an innocuous concept at first, it readily morphs into "original sin", then into designating negative non-physical attributes based upon genetics. Thus, someone might say "the Hatts of Doaktown are bad blood, nothing good has ever come from the Hatt family." This is on the order of a self-fulfilling prophecy, any Hatt child growing up in such an environment of negative expectations soon finds that every positive action he takes is ignored, and every negative action is never forgotten. Ultimately, he may live down to neighbors' expectations.

    While the example above (names have been changed to protect the innocent) does not demand racial classification, the same unreason applies.

    I'm mostly a nurture person as well. But that is also frightening in a way. Happily, our children are not the sum of their parents' parenting mistakes (whew, the mistakes I made!). And, some are able to overcome the worst nurture.

    Regarding the last paragraph, I hoped that could be a discussion point. The Baha'i Writings clearly speak about rejoicing in differences even as we grow to understand our inclusion in the family of man. For example --

    "The Creator of all is One God.

    From this same God all creation sprang into existence, and He is the one goal, towards which everything in nature yearns. This conception was embodied in the words of Christ, when He said, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end'. Man is the sum of Creation, and the Perfect Man is the expression of the complete thought of the Creator -- the Word of God.

    Consider the world of created beings, how varied and diverse they are in species, yet with one sole origin. All the differences that appear are those of outward form and colour. This diversity of type is apparent throughout the whole of nature.

    Behold a beautiful garden full of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Each flower has a different charm, a peculiar beauty, its own delicious perfume and beautiful colour. The trees too, how varied are they in size, in growth, in foliage -- and what different fruits they bear! Yet all these flowers, shrubs and trees spring from the self-same earth, the same sun shines upon them and the same clouds give them rain.

    So it is with humanity. It is made up of many races, and its peoples are of different colour, white, black, yellow, brown and red -- but they all come from the same God, and all are servants to Him. This diversity among the children of men has unhappily not the same effect as it has among the vegetable creation, where the spirit shown is more harmonious. Among men exists the diversity of animosity, and it is this that causes war and hatred among the different nations of the world.

    Differences which are only those of blood also cause them to destroy and kill one another. Alas! that this should still be so. Let us look rather at the beauty in diversity, the beauty of harmony, and learn a lesson from the vegetable creation. If you beheld a garden in which all the plants were the same as to form, colour and perfume, it would not seem beautiful to you at all, but, rather, monotonous and dull. The garden which is pleasing to the eye and which makes the heart glad, is the garden in which are growing side by side flowers of every hue, form and perfume, and the joyous contrast of colour is what makes for charm and beauty. So is it with trees. An orchard full of fruit trees is a delight; so is a plantation planted with many species of shrubs. It is just the diversity and variety that constitutes its charm; each flower, each tree, each fruit, beside being beautiful in itself, brings out by contrast the qualities of the others, and shows to advantage the special loveliness of each and all.

    Thus should it be among the children of men! The diversity in the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord. If you meet those of different race and colour from yourself, do not mistrust them and withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionality, but rather be glad and show them kindness. Think of them as different coloured roses growing in the beautiful garden of humanity, and rejoice to be among them.

    Likewise, when you meet those whose opinions differ from your own, do not turn away your face from them. All are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading thereto. Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one.

    Do not allow difference of opinion, or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellow-men, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts.

    Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends

    (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 51)

    I'm still working on most of the above.

    Warm regards,
    Reed
    ReplyDelete
  13. I think it is interesting how you mentioned the Hatt family. I think one can apply your objection to the Biblical religion as well. At least it gives me reservations to think about how covenants and promises and curses are made regarding the descendents of Ham, or Abraham, or Israel, etc.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)