The Credibility Factor in Discussions About Race

During our last class, Professor McKinney brought up an interesting topic of discussion regarding credibility in race discussions. He talked about backlash he received from an article he wrote that was "racist," and the sometimes uncomfortable nature of his position being "a black guy talking to a bunch of white students about white supremacy." Of course, these were funny stories to ease our minds on the last day of class before the reality of finals set in, but it got me thinking about the very real issue we face when engaging in discussions about race, from both the white and black perspective.

I use the term "credibility," because there seems to be an issue of if people really know what they're talking about when race is involved. For whites, the discrepancy is, how can you even begin to understand the black struggle...you're white?! For blacks, the limitation is, you are oversensitive and will assume everything is related to race, even when it's not (which seems to be what McKinney's Twitter critic was claiming). Neither of these assumptions are true all of the time, however, they continue to limit the open and upfront conversations about race we need to have, because they place a sort of filter on all conversations. It's almost as if even when an individual contributes an interesting idea, the other party might think, that's a good thought, but take it with a grain of salt, because they're black, or they're white, or whatever it may be that supposedly alters that persons' perspective.

I think that people's backgrounds, upbringings, race, and other distinguishing characteristics do in fact, provide biases in discussions about race (and anything for that matter!). However, I choose to not view this as a negative or a limiting factor. Our class this semester is actually excellent proof of how different people can sit in a room together and speak openly about race, ask those uncomfortable questions, and tackle difficult issues that we aren't all necessarily experts on, but are all interested in seeking explanations for. Instead of this creating a discussion surrounding resentment and misunderstandings, we were able to delve into topics that actually require several different backgrounds to sufficiently address. We had students of different colors, ethnicities, economic situations, public or private school backgrounds, etc. etc., and we were all able to contribute to conversations in our own ways, bringing in different ideas that might otherwise not even have been considered.

The very notion of discrediting an individual on their outlook on race based on their race is pretty ironic when you think about it. If I've learned anything from our class this semester, it's that civil rights struggles and racial issues are not going to be solved any time soon, if ever. With that being said though, I also learned that we can take small, but very important steps in correcting the past, by simply talking about these challenging and sometimes "awkward" subjects; and the more diverse the group that is talking, that makes the conversation all the more insightful and worthwhile.