Day 8: Race Relations in America

To start from the beginning, a-way back on October 5, one of my articles was entitled, "Of Nooses, Jena, and When to Speak Up." This was my posting of a short writeup:

"Readers: Please consider putting yourselves in my shoes for a moment, and contribute responses on what you would have done.

"On October 3, I attended a neighborhood meeting of about 50 people. Four present were African American, including a City Council candidate. This is an older White neighborhood that younger Blacks have started to integrate, many as tenants in homes where other Whites have fled and become landlords. The neighbors have been asking police for a crackdown against crime, much of it perpetrated by young Blacks who hang out on corners or at storefronts, walk in the middle of side streets, et cetera.

"Midway through the meeting, a White man of about 70 years old stood up and praised police. He then recounted an incident of the cops making a drug raid next door to his house, how they had caught one suspect but the other had run away. He concluded his remarks with this: 'Of course, if I had my way, they would HANG THEM ALL IN NOOSES.'

"I was sitting in the rear. Part of me in that instant instructed me to stand and say, 'What was that you just said?' But I did not take any corrective action. Instead I scanned the audience. Nobody showed outwardly to be taken aback, including the four African Americans. Nobody stood up and stalked out. Discussion continued.

"My question is, Should I have stood and said something?

"Saginaw's Human Relations Commission used to instruct that whenever confronting racism, a good citizen should speak up, even if feeling shy or hesitant about doing so. In other words, if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. This would seem appropriate especially during a time when The Jena 6 tragedy is making headlines. My dear mother was the most shy and humble person on earth, but after I betrothed a Black woman, she spoke up more than once when she encountered white racist pitter-patter. On the other hand, the White man making remarks at this meeting may not have been thinking racially; after all, people of other races also have been hanged, even though the racial symbolism (and horror) does not exist in those cases.

"Again I'll ask, Should I have stood and said something?"

............... That was the writeup. All respondees, to one extent or another, thought it was best to have sat quietly.

However, part of our group's phone bank required me to make a share of reminder calls for the November meeting. One young fellow said he would no longer be attending, and he explained to me: "At the last meeting, there was an old White guy talking about hanging up the teen-agers with nooses. I agree that some of the teenagers are problems, but that was uncalled for and I'm not going to expose my wife to that."

My mind whirled and shame set in. I asked him, "Were you the couple sitting over to the right, near the back?" He said, "Yes, how would you know that?" And my answer was, "Because I felt I should have said something. Now I know I should have said something. It won't mean much now, but all I can do is apologize." He said, "That's cool, man." He hasn't been back.

This evening, it was time for another monthly meeting. The neighbors started to complain once more about a corner market where the street kids hang out in warmer weather, buying Black & Gold cigars (a popular trend) and sometimes booze. This indeed is a problem, but one woman started a rant, "These AYE-rabs are the problem with their AYE-rab stores, they are all in the same family, these AYE-rabs."

This time there was no hesitation. "Whoa, whoa," I interrupted, then put up my hand. When the woman was finished, I said, "Look, last year someone in the group was talking about hanging up these teenager in nooses, and a Black person told me he quit our group for this reason. Now we have all of this talk about Arabs. We don't need this. The problem is the conduct of the store owners, but it doesn't matter what ethnic group they are in."

The woman answered, "But it's true, I'm just telling the truth." And most of the other 50 people (all White this month, no more sprinkling of Blacks) spoke up in agreement or nodded. All I said further was, "That's it, my own conscience is clear."

The meeting moved forward as though nothing had happened. Four City Council members (all White) did not intervene or speak. Neither did the group chairwoman, nor any of the officers. Proceedings ended, and I pretty much up and departed. If anyone felt that I'd done the right thing, as Spike Lee would say, they didn't approach me.

Dee and me live on the edge of this target area, in the most integrated portion. Still, the whole neighborhood now is mixed. And this is how a group of White people will act. I wrote their inaugural newsletter for them, released tonight, but now what to do? Sometimes it is so frustrating, even hurtful. But I won't doubt speaking up next time, and no longer will wonder whether these occasional human relations diary entries have something to offer. - Mike