Obama Opens the Discussion of Race in America

Indeed, a long string of research by social scientists makes it clear that we can’t just make race go away. Burying this country’s history of discrimination won’t do it. Electing a mixed-heritage president won’t do it. All the good intentions in the world won’t do it. But the approach that Obama took Tuesday could very well point the way.

First, pretending race doesn’t matter doesn’t fool anyone. […] When race goes underground, our behavior often doesn’t match our intentions.

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Obama took two critical steps in lifting the conversation beyond traded grievances. He challenged us to see the inequities created by legalized discrimination that still plague our public schools, property ownership, and job opportunities. He recognized the anger still simmering in the black community. But then, he asked us to acknowledge the bitterness white people feel when programs meant to mend historical injustice seem to work against their own chances or their children’s.

Our country’s heritage is one where slavery lawfully existed, even while the rest of the world started turning away from the slave trade. It took us another hundred years to acknowledge the abomination that was slavery, and nearly another hundred after that to bring black Americans up to the same social privileges enjoyed by others (notwithstanding all the laws against such racial discrimination).

We’re a long way from healing this divide, but politicians like Obama remind us — no, they challenge us — that it is possible to envision a “more perfect union” and bring America together, moving forward. But it takes each and every one of us to make that commitment to move forward together, as brothers and fellow citizens of one of the best countries on Earth.