Latoya Peterson says that while we thought our first African American president would strengthen our national dialogue on race, our conversations remain as superficial as before.
On March 18, 2008, then candidate Barack Obama gave a speech on race in Philadelphia designed to lance the boil of the Jeremiah Wright controversy and provide a thoughtful commentary on the current state of race in our nation. Less than a year later, on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated president. Buoyed by his thoughtful prose and the promise of a progressive approach to race and race relations, he rode a tide of change into the Oval Office.
But sadly, the progress hoped for by many in minority communities has not materialized. Instead, our conversations about race and its impact on American life are no more insightful or sophisticated than before, as evidenced by the discomfort we have in discussing racial issues in anything other than a superficial form. The newly appointed Attorney General Eric Holder attempted to have an honest conversation about race and racism with his colleagues at the Justice Department last February.
In his speech, Holder made vitally important points, describing the strides we have made in the workplace but noting how far we have to go in desegregating our private lives. He explained the need for understanding and for a basic grasp of history, which is so often missing from current discussions of racial progress. He addressed our problems honestly, noting "this nation has still not come to grips with its racial past nor has it been willing to contemplate, in a truly meaningful way, the diverse future it is fated to have. To our detriment, this is typical of the way in which this nation deals with issues of race."
The media seized upon his "nation of cowards" remark and deftly avoided the content of Holder's speech. Obama, who had once called for greater understanding about race in a public forum, backed away. He chose instead to placate those invested in suppressing any conversation about race, rather than acknowledge the truth of Holder's words. As Obama distanced himself from Holder's honesty, the national conversation on race switched to a more familiar course: hysteria, finger pointing, and stereotypes dominated the airwaves while information, facts, and historical understanding fell by the wayside.
