Conversation on Race: Recognize each other's humanity
With the nation in the middle of a great wave of immigration not seen since the beginning of the 20th century, Paste BN hosted a live National Conversation on Race on Oct. 22 as part of our Changing Face of America project.
Paste BN columnists DeWayne Wickham and Raul Reyes, author Helen Zia and Jose Barreiro, assistant director of research for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, met Paste BN Editorial Page Editor Brian Gallagher in a Google+ Hangout to discuss what rapidly accelerating racial and ethnic diversity means for both minority groups and their larger communities.
At the end of the discussion, participants summarized what they thought the country needs to do as we head toward a majority-minority culture.
----
Brian Gallagher: What the single most important takeaway is from this trend towards rising diversity? What is it that the nation needs to do as a result of this very powerful trend?
DeWayne Wickham: I would hope that the diversity that we see brings about real integration…. That was the promise ….that we would not be excluded because we didn't go to the same churches, or live in the same neighborhoods. We can overcome those kinds of handicaps if in fact diversity brings about real integration in this country.
Helen Zia: The fact that we're moving to a majority-minority, quote, nation and we already have majority-minority states like California… this is not up for debate. It's happening. … So the thing about it is, really, diversity is how we look at it. Whether it's a zero sum game … that minorities being here means that other people are losing, or a particular minority means that another minority is losing. That's really a very defensive and negative way of looking at it. There are other ways to see that our diversity really enriches all of us in many, many more ways than we can imagine. And how do we make that happen? The key is really, in my mind, to see the full humanity of every one of us. You know, (the unrest in) Ferguson, Missouri happens, even in an area that has a large African-American population, because the people in power don't see the humanity of every person. And that's where I think we need to go. And that comes with education, it comes with our roles in the media to introduce the full humanity of everybody and show that we actually can develop as a country and not see ourselves as a divided place where the diversity is negative.
José Barreiro: I see the big change from what was once only institutional racism, or racism based on the history of hegemony, but we still have a long way to go in fighting the mutual prejudice among groups, and even in the Native American world, among peoples of different tribes... These are not huge issues, but they are important to overcome.
We did find out with the election of President Obama (that) the thought that racism was somehow a thing of the past in the country, it's not at all true. We definitely can see very deep pockets of racism in the country and we see the tremendous amount of institutional roadblocks to people improving themselves. But the important challenge I think, as Helen mentioned, is to recognize the common humanity and to work across different ethnic groups, different races, to get to know each other better and to see our mutual goals as something that can benefit the country, not just ourselves but the country at large.
I think the country needs to grow, and we certainly see that holding back has hurt and (see) the experience of this president who really has been put up against a wall in very unjust ways.
Raul Reyes: I hope that people will increasingly start to think about diversity not as a concept, not as a mandatory seminar that their work makes them go to once every few years, but just as reality. This is life. We see it already. If you live in an urban area, diversity is there. That's what you see when you go out your front door. Going forward I just hope people recognize that, for example, when you think about Latinos—what do Latinos want from this country? Pretty much the same as all Americans want.
We care about our schools, and in fact when you look at a Latino family, most Latino families still (have) what they call intact family with the mom and dad and their little children, they do go to church every week, participate in their communities, so in many ways the typical Latino family fits the traditional definition of what is a family more than the typical non-Hispanic family does today.
And going forward I also hope that people look at the demographics and not approach them with fear or any sense of threat. When we look at the demographics of Latinos, Asians, all groups in this country, that's our incentive to invest in the future. That's our incentive to invest in better public schools, in better training for young people and working to provide them with the opportunities that all Americans want.