1) don’t talk about it at all and pretend that the election of Obama proves that there is no longer a racial prlbem, or 2) talk about it only in terms of accusing one group or another as being the sole source of our problems.

Misrepresenting what other commenters said is a very poor way of encouraging dialogue, meitene. Shame on you.

Judging from the hateful and hostile tone of your comments across multiple threads, I would say that the one most oriented towards “accusing one group or another as being the sole source of our problems” is you.

Holder’s choice of words was inartful, since they were both provocative and unclear. My personal guess is that he was giving the public too much credit for the ability to broach the subject without overinterpreting and jumping to all sorts of unwarranted conclusions. After all, he didn’t accuse anyone of being a racist; he accused everyone of being cowardly about talking racism.

If reacting with bravado is a sign of inner cowardice, as is often claimed, then we are cowards who fear talking about a subject because it might reveal someihting unpleasant about ourselves. That cuts both ways and every which way. And it’s true. When is the last time anyone discussed race in a mixed group, without immediately making accusations, or at all?

This is a bit of a trivialization of the problem posed by someone who has to live with stereotypes throughout their life. Your “problem” will go away eventually: you may grow tall and for sure you will not always look like a teenager. Persons who are stereotyped due to their identity, visible or otherwise noticeable, are not so “lucky”. They have to learn how navigate among their own levels of patience and tolerance and the necessity to always shrug away these annoying, yet persistent stereotypifications.

Imagine having to live your entire life while bracing, day in day out, to meet lower expectations, sneering or condescending attitudes at best or open malign discrimination, at worse? And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You cannot change the colour of your skin, or your accent, or your minority identity, or some other feature that reveals right away you are not “one of them”.

In my case I have learned to make outsiderness a source of strengh and to challenge people as far as I can about their prejudices. But very few take kindly to being challenged or having to offer an apology for something they don’t really feel sorry about. What it means is that the perpetually stereotyped has to be an extra vigilant kind of being and always on the ready to thwart these active attempts to sideline him or her. It can be pretty exhausting, and hardly ever rewarding.

I understand what Mica is saying but still I would say that it is better to be the latter than the former, to be the outsider and resist racism in any form, even when socially inconvenient, than to be one of the crowds and be selective about your outrage, or make excuses for someone like Farrakhan. The idea is of course to pick one’s fights wisely. Not every aberration is worth the expenditure of energy.

Michael, you should read Martin Amis’s “Experience” about being short. He is very funny when he recalls how people used to ‘console’ him when he was a teenger that he would eventually grow taller. When he met those people years later he would demand to know from them how come their prognosis was so wrong…

I will concede that there are still some issues to be worked out, particularly in pay and housing. Some people say that this is a problem in the system, while others say it is a problem with attitude. I say that it’s a mix of both. While I think it is true there is some inequalities in the system, I would also say that there is a problem with attitude among some of the black community.

Perhaps it is caused by lack of faith in the system, but it is there. And I’m not the only one to say this. Bill Cosby has become under fire for speaking out about it, and Obama has dedicated part of at least one speech to it. Yet, many blacks have beaten both the attitude and the system and become very successful. I’m not talking about the Obamas of the world, who was afforded a good education. I’m talking about those who’ve risen up from nothing and become successful. There are obviously areas where blacks are underrepresented (I believe business is one), but if the system really is that badly biased against blacks, it will take a change in attitude, and perhaps that change in attitude will cause them to demand the changes in the system.

I also think you have to separate stereotypes with actual racism that causes bias against blacks (such as housing, pay, or job advancement). Stereotypes are bad, to be sure, but I don’t think they’re on quite the same level as true racism. I say this because all people have to deal with stereotypes.

Take me. I’m short for my age and young looking. I don’t get anything too bad, but I do have to always take out my ID at casinos or bars or package stores because I am assumed to be young. It’s not their fault; just a pre-conceived stereotype of how a 22-year-old “should look.” Or Jason. He’s a moderate, but I’m sure if he were to initially introduce himself to a conservative as a professor, I can only imagine the stereotypes going through the conservative’s head.

I didn’t realize that you were a professor. I can see where it could be a mine field for you. The “powers that be”…. I am thinking about what you say, and I’d like to respond later.

Jason, I think that Tony has things to say, and some of them may be good things, and important to hear/read. I know that he’s banned, but I think it would be a good thing to give him another chance, and not to throw him away. Were his words reprehensible? Yes. But his apology was sincere and from his heart. I think that he needs to be heard, and I’m hoping that you’ll reconsider his expulsion, and allow him a chance to show that he has a place where he can voice his opinions, as long as he toes the proverbial line. Everybody needs a break, Jason. Please, at least give it some thought. And I’m sorry for posting so much! Thanks, and enjoy the morning. Mica

I’m really hoping that you won’t be kicked off this post, because I’d like to hear what shapes your attitudes. I think it would be good learning for all of us. Again, take care. Mica

It’s good that you would not take opposition to affirmative action as in and of itself proof of racism. Unfortunately, many white people have learned that they cannot rely upon everyone — and especially not upon the commissars of political correctness — to share your open-mindedness.

Eric Holder attributed reluctance to discuss race to cowardice. My point is that there is another possible explanation: Accusations of “racism” have become a form of intimidation that function to make talking about race a no-win proposition for whites. Until that stops everywhere — and most especially on college campuses controlled by self-appointed thought police — many whites will continue to avoid the subject as much as they possibly can rather than enter the no-win realm of trying to discuss it openly.

This aspect of the issue affects me personally. When I deal with racial issues in my classes, I always feel like I am picking my way through a verbal minefield, trying to make sure I don’t set off any hidden traps by saying anything that could be misunderstood or misrepresented. I hate having to feel like that during what should be a “teaching moment”, but that is the environment that has been created. And it wasn’t white racists who constructed that part of the problem.

Maybe Eric Holder’s attitude — that all the problems surrounding racial discourse are solely the result of lingering white racism — is part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Both lingering racism AND lingering racial grievance-mongering are parts of the problem. Unless they are dealt with equally, there will be no real racial conversation in our society. There will only be feigning and passive-aggressiveness.