The battle against hate must start inside our own communities

Date: 7/22/2016

How important is the issue of race relations to you?

According to an ABC News poll released on July 16, “A vast 83 percent of Americans say the next president should place an ‘especially major’ focus on trying to improve race relations – which, following the Dallas police killings and high-profile shootings of blacks by police, majorities see as bad and getting worse.”    

The poll results also shows “63 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say race relations generally are bad and 55 percent say they’re worsening, sharply more negative views than just two months ago. Only a third say relations are good and just one in 10 say they’re getting better.”

The conclusion is “This translates into a broad desire for progress. Not only do 83 percent say the next president should put an especially major focus on trying to improve race relations, nearly half in this group also say it’s ‘extremely’ important. Just 12 percent don’t want a major focus on the issue, and few of them feel strongly about it.”

In our area, relations between various ethnic minorities ought to be near the top of our list of issues to ponder, as many of us who live in Hampden County live in communities that are mixed.

I’ve always viewed this as a plus. I think having communities with a diverse population adds to the richness of culture.

As tensions escalate across the country the question for many is “What can a president do to improve race relations?”

Few recent presidents have been the object of so much hate and derision as Barack Obama and only the most blind could deny that at least some of this criticism has come because he is African-American. The attacks on his family have been unprecedented and as far as I’m concerned those are all racially motivated.

A causal scroll through Facebook shows there are no limits to what is said about Obama and his wife and daughters. Was the family of George W. Bush, a president that led us into an unnecessary war in Iraq, so vilified? Nope.

One would think Obama as the first African-American to reach the presidency would have been a figure of reunion among ethnic groups, but it’s clear that among some people his mere presence in the office is offensive.

The reaction to Obama certainly indicates a deep and persistent streak of racism in this nation.

Criticism of a president’s policies and actions are fair game. I know that I certainly haven’t been a supporter all the time. Anything else, though, is not.

I’m not sure that a president can do anything other than devote much or his or her time to speaking about racial relations. A quick look over news reports about the Republican platform – their convention is up first – does not address racial tensions.

I think the question is what can we do? No one wants American citizens to be fearful because of their ethnicity. No one wants responsible members of law enforcement to be tarred with the brush of the few officers who are not law-abiding. No one should be leaving their house in the morning wondering if because of the color of their skin or the nature of their uniform they will be returning that night.

The movement to end this crisis has to be on the state and local levels. For instance, the fact a Black Lives Matter group in Wichita, KS, decided to unite with police in a community cookout instead of a protest is a step other communities should certainly adopt. It was deemed a success in bringing together the community according to a report on July 17 in the Wichita Eagle newspaper.

Opportunities on a local level to speak about race, identify specific problems and seek solutions are paramount. Protests are fine to call attention to problems, but there has to be actual action to address those issues.

There are people who are on all sides of this issue who exist solely to proclaim themselves as “leaders” and reap benefits from this self-appointed status.

Unfortunately 24-hour news operations hungry for red meat and social media have allowed these people a new level of prominence that they don’t deserve.

Let’s reject the hate and rebuild on the local level.

This column is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect the position of the owners or advertisers of this newspaper. Got a comment about this story? Go to http://speakout.thereminder.com and let us know.