While sound technicians fiddle with the microphones to try and keep yet another black man from being silenced (kidding! sort of!), CNN has been hosting a discussion between a black host and two African-American guests that's been the most sophisticated conversation on race I've heard in some time. The words "white supremacy" were actually used, in a contemporary context, and both the host and the other guest agreed with their usage. It's pretty remarkable. And this is why we don't want to have a conversation on race. Some of what Jeremiah Wright said was nuts -- particularly the bit about AIDS being a government plot. But I don't think folks are offended by his loony views, I think they're unsettled by his racialized analysis of power in this country, and the anger that underpins his conclusions. If you open that conversation, however, you're going to find that many folks share that belief. Not just the Wrights of the world, but the analysts on CNN, and your neighbors, and your co-workers. There are subjects we've agreed not to talk about, but that doesn't mean we agree on them.
