Theatre Companion recently alerted me to a discussion between two African-Americans who frequently write on race. For having occurred on the webernet, said discussion is remarkable for clarity and centering on the issues rather than the personalities. From his e-mail to me:
That debate is between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jon Chait and takes place here (in order):
Read through the various essays (in order, of course): they provide much fodder for thought. What follows are my conclusions (albeit fairly inconclusive). No fair reading them without having first diligently plowed through the above links.
The core of the issue, though neither states this clearly, could be summarized thus: given that all races and ethnicities genuinely have equal status in law, can anything be done about the fact that many people continue to treat others unequally on the basis of race and ethnicity?
In this discussion, the party responsible for changing the attitudes/behaviors which result in unequal treatment (and that unequal treatment is found sometimes in casual interactions, such as hailing a cab, but also in formal settings like courtrooms) is the black man; that is, he should concentrate on getting his act together. Coates persuasively argues the black man is not the problem; instead, the problem lies with those who operate with inherently racist assumptions. Fair enough. If that's the case, though, I think the forecast is ultimately optimistic: just as ethnic prejudices from the 19th century have largely disappeared, so we see race prejudices beginning to fade. This should become all the lesser of an issue as whitey makes up an ever-decreasing percentage of the overall population.
So while I acknowledge the grim reality of our racist present, I guess I'm optimistic over the long term.
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