Part of getting older is being able to realize and admit that what you have been doing isn’t working and being okay with not knowing how to fix it. That is the sum of how I have felt in the past few weeks watching America tear itself apart not only among party lines but alone racial and socioeconomic lines.
I will admit that I have felt guilty recently over my view that being color-blind was the best way to deal with racial in-equality because it only has led to what we are seeing on TV and in our communities. I want to be part of the solution so for this special episode of Gray Matters, I invited a long time friend of the show and one of my best friends of over 22 years Leon Cradle into the studio to have a hard talk about race in America.
More importantly we made sure that no question was left off the table and gave each other permission to be more blunt then we ever have before. Our hope is that by asking questions such as:
What do white people not understand about racial inequality that they should?
What is it that people are getting wrong about the protests?
Explain the anger and what is behind it?
Is looting getting in the way of the message?
Why is there some back lash towards white people who are joining protests or advocating online?
How do comments such as “thugs” Lowlifes” etc. have on people of color?
What white people are afraid to ask or do?
What can we do from here…what needs to happen right now?
What is your opinion of leadership in the black community right now?
Lastly, Is it detrimental to only look at these protests as being about race rather than also about economic inequality?
Our goal is to model how black and white people can talk to each other in a different way to start some level of understanding so we can move forward and most importantly come up with real solutions that are more than just putting duct tape on the problem and actually coming up with real change. We have to because our country will tear itself apart if we don’t. Our common goal should be peace, understanding, and prosperity and every action should have that in mind…instead of not trying to look weak or trying to score political points or ratings.
