Good News About Race in America

I grew up in rural Iowa. We had, at that time, only one black family in the county. What I knew about black folks coming up was what I heard not what I personally experienced. I mention this because if you do not know people unlike yourself you can believe almost anything bad or good about them. In spite of the stereotypes on TV and in movies, I was encouraged to evaluate people as individuals not groups. I was assured that God loved all the children of the world, of all colors.”They were precious in His Sight.”

So as I entered the more diverse world, in my case the army, I was able to put my beliefs to the test. I was successful. I had black friends, white friends, Mexican friends, Native American friends, Asian friends, and more. There were always cliques promoting group identity over individuality. But I was happy to have quality friends no matter their group.

I was shocked when I took my training down at Fort Polk Louisiana. On post we were soldiers and were taught to have each others backs. But off post it was a different thing. We saw anti black posters at gas stations. When we went to Shreveport one weekend for some fun I was again disappointed. Though we all wore the uniforms of the country we were denied entry into several bars and clubs because some of us were black.

I had hoped for more progress to have been made. I had seen Martin Luther King speak for so many Americans in his “I have a Dream” speech several years earlier. The dream was that people be judged on the content of their character not the color of their skins. I had made it work in my life and it still is. Perhaps that is why I’ve had friends and loved ones from six different continents. I am so rich!

Popular opinion, among some, is that racism is worse than it has ever been in the US. That is complete nonsense. Let’s follow the facts not the fears. In the sixties civil rights movements were trying to get basic things like the vote of black folk protected. That battle has been won.

In 1958 a Gallup poll only 4% of Americans approved of black and white marriages. By 2016 it was 87%. In 1960 1.7% of marriages of blacks were black with white. By 2016 it was 12%. In 1960 60% of Americans said they would never vote for a black president. In 2008 and 2012 Americans elected a black president.

Harvard professor Orlando Patterson had this to say. America is the least racist white majority society in the world. It has a better record for legal protection for minorities than any other society white or black. It offers the greatest number of opportunities to black persons than any other societies, including those in Africa. Professor Patterson, by the way, is a liberal black man. The truth does not care who tells it.

The enemy is not black or white. The enemies are hate and racism. They are not white sins but human sins. Our enemies should be identified by these two things not the color of skin. If you hear someone say all whites are….or all blacks are…you may be listening to a racist, a hater. Most Americans are neither, in spite of the narritive and the destruction we witness. CNN is NOT an accurate view of America or Americans. We prefer to live together, work together, worship together. I, for one, will continue living my life decently and will not be manipulated by the haters and the spiritual forces behind them. We have come too far, paid too many dues, not to continue our journey towards freedom and brotherhood.