I am an Air Force brat, just old enough to recall my parents' concern for our family's welfare when we traveled through the South from base to base. Today, thankfully, my family is free to travel the country without fear of being turned away from hotels or restaurants because of our skin color.
My father retired from the United States Air Force as a full colonel. He was a rarity throughout his career: a high-ranking black officer at a time when there were few if any black elected officials, professional sports coaches or professional baseball players. Nowadays, after watching television news reports or reading newspaper articles, he sometimes notes how race has ceased being newsworthy in our country, that the paradigm informing race in our country has changed. I often agree with him, but it strikes me that as much as we may long to live in a post-racial America, it is not yet time for us to act as if we do. Doing so has dangerous consequences.
A few weeks ago, my youngest son entered his sixth-grade social studies classroom at our public, suburban, primarily nonblack school to find his only black teacher decorating the walls for Black History Month. When my son expressed surprise that black history would be celebrated throughout the month of February, the poor man leaned over to take a long look at my son's face and asked, “Are you serious?” My highly intelligent son immediately covered his tracks by responding, “Oh! I thought that was just yesterday!” (Bearing my fair share of the responsibility for slipping into the dangerous terrain of post-racial America, I immediately required my son to research and take a black history fact to school every day during the month to share with his teacher. But I digress.)
My oldest son — who attends the same school — came home last week, very affected by a Holocaust survivor who came to speak to his eighth-grade class. Some of the toughest kids in the class were moved to tears as the victim of Nazi persecution told his wrenching story. That night our family discussed how blessed the students had been to receive one of this man's key messages: how those who have no knowledge of the past are doomed to repeat it.
If we are to benefit from the lessons of history, we should not shy away from current issues informed by race. Take the Winter Olympics, for example. Only four years ago, Shani Davis was the first black American to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games. Reporters dutifully noted his accomplishment but then quickly moved to the juicier part of the story: namely, Davis' feud with a slower teammate. During the just-concluded Vancouver Olympics, Davis was the only person — black, white or otherwise — to earn an Olympic gold medal in back-to-back Games in the 1,000-meter long-track event. This time, the media coverage of Davis was again noticeably limited. When Sports Illustrated and CNN reporters tell us that Davis is “difficult” to interview or that he does not like the American press, it troubles me. Since when has a subject's uncooperative nature justified not covering the story? The bottom line is that Davis is a once-in-a-generation athlete who has accomplished something for the first time in Olympic history — and he is black, too. Why act as if this is not newsworthy or deserving of celebration? When a black man or woman records a significant achievement, we should all take note of the accomplishment — and not act as though race is a four-letter word that should be politely avoided.
As a young officer in the military, my father lived in a world where innkeepers could turn away black travelers; where black students were refused service in restaurants; and where predominantly black churches were burned in acts of racial hatred. Today, my sons are being raised in a different America. We elected a black president, and black politicians, head coaches and professional quarterbacks now seem the norm rather than the exception. For my sons, the paradigm of their grandfather's world is ancient history. Perhaps that is a good thing. But perhaps, as the Holocaust survivor reminded the eighth-graders at my sons' school, we risk repeating the past if we neglect to embrace and learn its lessons fully.
It is one thing to forgive the racism and hatred of the past, but forgiveness should not beget forgetfulness. If race can inform the issues of the day, it is unhelpful to ignore or overlook those facts. Acting as if race is non-newsworthy — whether to celebrate an Olympic milestone or to report on hate crimes that may be racially motivated — does little to develop the post-racial America that so many of us desperately want.
Note: this op-ed appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Saturday, March 06, 2010.
