Racism Undeniable
I would like to add my voice to Dewey Roberts' letter of support for the kind of columns written by Attica Scott in her "Color Conscious" column.
When I moved to Knoxville from Idaho in 1986 to work at Lakeshore Mental Health Institute I was immediately struck by the lack of a significant African-American presence in the workplace.
I came to understand that there was (and still is) what I think of as a strongly unconscious racism in Knoxville. Dewey puts it more appropriately (psychologically) as "denial." What he says he experiences daily..."there is a belief that if you don't experience racism or see yourself as a problem, then there is no problem." To that I say "Yes!"
At Lakeshore the racism I experienced was primarily a paternalistic attitude toward African Americans—sometimes in the form of treating them more leniently than Euro-Americans without any recognition (denial) that the attitude was racist.
During the intervening years since 1986 I have known of a number of (and heard of others) professional African-American persons who have moved to Knoxville but have not stayed long due to the racism that Dewey describes.
Harry Bruen
Knoxville
Don't Ignore Progress
Yes indeed, keep up the good work, Attica [Scott]. Your periodic commentary pieces in the Color Conscious forum provoke thought from the various communities in East Tennessee, especially the majority white community that is not ordinarily influenced by such observations. As a member of the Knoxville community, I do appreciate discussion of racial issues, even when the discussion might make me feel uncomfortable upon reflection or even when I might simply disagree. "Your honesty and forthrightness is refreshing," as Dewey Roberts (President, Knoxville Branch, NAACP) points out in his letter in the Jan. 17 issue.
However, when Mr. Roberts states that we are not much nearer to a "color blind" society in 2002 than we were in 1954, I wonder why he feels the need to ignore the progress that has been made. He not only fails to tell the truth, he does a disservice to those (black, white and Latino) who have worked very courageously for the civil rights and justice of people of color.
Come on, does he not remember or has he not read about when there used to be separate bathrooms and drinking fountains for blacks and whites? Blacks could not eat at many restaurants in the South in the '50s and '60s. It is a rare (and unfortunate) occasion today when an African-American person is not served in a restaurant anywhere in the country. An article in The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that "in 1960 only 20 percent of all black adults had a high school diploma and only one in every 33 had completed four years of college." Yet, today "a record 79 percent have completed high school and better than one in every seven has a university degree."
Why not be honest and report that significant gains have been made? How productive is it to report that race relations and the drive for civil rights and justice is still stuck in the 1950s? Maybe it serves Roberts' agenda in some way. I don't know.
Sure, we have not finished making Dr. Martin Luther King's dream a reality for all. We have miles to travel before we finish. For example, the News-Sentinel goes on to report that the median income of a black family as a percentage of that of a white family has only increased from 61 to 64 percent in 25 years. That's not only bad, it's a national shame. We must do better.
There are many other areas in which we have failed to make progress. It will take more time, effort and changing of people's hearts. This mission probably won't be finished in our lifetime either, sorry to say. But to say that we haven't done much in a half-century is to promote cynicism in all of us. It is this kind of attitude that has the potential to incense some and turn others off to the struggle for a color blind society.
We need to recognize the victories won and the progress made in order to further inspire us all to continue on and finish the work begun by those before us. So Mr. Roberts, I encourage you to tell a more complete version of the truth and be a more effective catalyst for change in our society.
Mark Miller
Knoxville
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