I'm not a black man. I cannot claim to understand the black experience. But I do know and have great respect for many people and coworkers of other races.
And I struggle with questions of racism and equality.
I know and have great respect for the fight for equality that raged half a century ago, and echoes still to this day. Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King said he longed for a country where people "would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
I, too, long for a such a color-blind society. But I realize we still have a long way to go.
This became painfully clear to me recently. I was watching a television show where actors set up a scenario, and the responses of unknowing people are filmed. The scenario was that an actor got into a parked car and stole several valuable items. First, they used a shady-looking white guy. Over and over, people nearby ignored the crime happing only a few feet away.
But when a black actor did the same scenario, police were called on the first occurence. And again. And again. The only possible conclusion is that society is very aware, and suspicious of, black people.
To be fair, this was clearly a "white neighborhood". The black thief stuck out like tennis shoes at a formal ball. The white thief just looked shady, but you wouldn't give him a second look if you passed him on the street.
And race sensitivity clearly runs the other direction, too. When I go into a big meeting, I try to figure out the seniority and authority of people in the room. I rarely, if ever, become aware of the number of men versus women, or caucasians versus minorities. My mind just doesn't work that way.
I am told that the analysis is very different for most minorities. The first thing they notice is how "outnumbered" they are. I find that to be very, very disturbing. And I don't know how to fix it.
Hell, I don't even know how to talk about it.
And if we don't talk about it, how can we ever change it?
I do know one thing, however. I know, to the very fiber of my soul, that we CAN talk about it. We can be polite and thoughtful. And we can come to understand each other.
I plead "guilty" to enjoying the luxury of the majority. It's not intentional. It's an accident of birth.
But that doesn't mean I'm the enemy. I'm just a guy. Who happens to be wearing white skin.
I also believe that too many people have lost the art of civility. There's no law against being polite, even if you don't like a person or agree with them.
I firmly believe that civility would likely have defused the Treyvon Martin shooting tragedy. I have no way to know what really happened, but I have serious doubt that a courteous conversation between two strangers would end up in gunfire.
And remember, it's a whole lot easier to understand someone when they AREN'T yelling at you.
Something to think about, anyway.
