Exploring our diversity can reveal our similarities
by Ed White
When I sat down to write this, I was intimidated to think I might be seen as representing white people in Knoxville. It's an absurd notion, for which I want no responsibility. There are far too many "white" viewpoints for any one person to represent. At the same time, it is readily assumed and expected for any person of color mounting a soapbox or reaching a certain level of achievement that they represent their entire race or ethnicity. Just think of Halle Berry accepting her Academy Award for Best Actress this year, acknowledging the fact that the result was much bigger than her accomplishment as an individual. "The door has been opened," she said, speaking for all African Americans.
Halle Berry is absolutely right, of course, but her acceptance speech is also a sobering indication of how much work is still ahead of us in our society's struggle for racial equality and justice in a color-blind society. While the diversity of viewpoints among blacks is as great as it is among whites, people of color share a common view that actually does allow them to speak for one another: the view of closed doors.
Since I can't speak for all white folk, I'll have to speak for myself. As a child of Jim Crow, I have seen a lot of progress toward racial justice in society and I have seen much remain the same. I remember the segregated schools of Atlanta in the 1960s, and the outrage and terror instilled in us as children over the prospect of desegregation. By the 1970s I lived in Memphis, and saw much of that outrage and terror dissipate—almost evaporate, like the phantoms at the heart of our fears—as desegregation brought blacks and whites together where we could learn from and with each other.
For all that, I was ill-prepared for my move to Knoxville in the early 1980s. True, blacks were a smaller percentage of the population in Knoxville than in Atlanta or Memphis, but it didn't explain why blacks seemed to be so invisible to the all-white society in which I found myself. The few native Knoxvillians I encountered who were black were also much more subdued somehow, as if they expected or wanted to be invisible. They certainly didn't expect to be included much in mainstream society, declining most invitations to white-dominated events.
Though it was far from perfect, I missed the mixed society I had known, most especially in Memphis where most of my best friends had been people of color by the time I graduated high school. I knew ethnic diversity in an open society to be invigorating and challenging, whereas Knoxville seemed to suffer a kind of inertia and ennui culturally, complacent to keep things "separate but equal" as it were. There were certainly people of color in Knoxville trying to create change at the time, but they were nearly invisible from within the dominant white enclaves.
Only in the past decade have I begun to detect a sea change here in Knoxville, most especially since Danny Mayfield and Tribe One hit the scene. Black Knoxvillians have become ever more self-empowered, and the rate at which they are entering and participating in mainstream Knoxville society has accelerated. Likewise, white Knoxvillians have been more and more conscious of creating a place at the table for people of color. These are exciting times in Knoxville, full of promise and potential.
But the truth is, we are still only in the early stages of the struggle, both nationally and locally, and we have entered a most difficult stage where we must balance celebration of real progress against frustration over the relative lack of it. Racism can still be found institutionalized throughout our society, in spite of the good intentions of most of the individuals who make up our institutions. It exists in our election systems, our criminal justice system, our financial institutions, our entertainment industry and even in our health-care system. New statistics bear this out almost daily.
Most white folks I know don't feel they are personally responsible for a legacy of racism that had its roots in slavery many generations and centuries long. But we are responsible for perpetuating this legacy if we enjoy the fruits of white privilege—which are far too easily taken for granted—and if we do nothing to end it.
As Justice Blackmun once said, "In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently." Let's make Knoxville a more inclusive, diverse society at all levels. Reach out to people of color. Find ways to proactively include them. Question situations that favor or include only whites and seek to change them. Solutions to common problems are best solved with a diversity of viewpoints, and, in the end, you will find that our differences make us all the same.
One way Knoxvillians can make a difference is by participating in the National Conference for Community and Justice's Walk as One walk-a-thon, Sunday, June 2, starting at 2 p.m. at Volunteer Landing. Call Suzanne Curtis at NCCJ's offices, 637-6140. Proceeds support NCCJ's youth anti-racism and community leadership initiatives.
Ed White is on the Knoxville Regional Board of Directors for the NCCJ.
May 9, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 19
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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