Jerry Wilson Over Coffee Appearing each Wednesday in the Edinburgh Courier, the weekly newspaper in Edinburgh, Indiana and periodically in Indiana's Daily Journal newspaper.

Playing the Race Card

Let us take a journey of the imagination to another country, a purely fictional country -- similar to the United States, but different in important ways.

This country is filled with much diversity. There are people from different nations, people of different races, colors, sexes, religions, and creeds. Yet, everyone in this country behaves as though, and is treated by others as though, there were but one race, one religion, one sex, and one nationality.

A person in this increasingly hypothetical country who applies for a job or for admission to a university is either accepted or rejected based upon nothing but merit. Race does not enter the equation. A prospective boss does not have to meet any racial or ethnic quotas. An individual who is turned down for a job doesn't even consider playing the "race card." It just never enters anyone's mind in this fictitious land that decisions are ever made about anyone based upon their color or race.

Now, let us come back to reality. America has one thing in common with this hypothetical land of ours -- its diversity. America has been termed both a "melting pot" and a "salad bowl." The melting pot camp is closer to our hypothetical world than the salad bowl camp, but neither is a complete picture of America, nor does either description convey the optimum condition depicted in the fictitious country.

Those who say America should be a melting pot believe that everyone living here should be considered Americans, and that any racial or ethnic differences should be checked at the front door upon arrival. On the other hand, the salad bowl people say that America's strength lies in its diversity, and that all the different cultures represented here make America better.

It just doesn't quite work that way in real life, however. It has happened throughout all of history, in all parts of the world. It is still happening today, in Northern Ireland, in the Balkans, in Russia, and in parts of Asia. People of different cultures have never learned to get along. We would be failing again to learn from history if we expect anything different in America.

We can, however, learn how to suppress our latent tendencies to maintain ethnic purity. We can do this, but only if all races decide to do it together. We can all denounce hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan or the Neo-Nazis. And we have no real problem in denouncing these fringe groups of supremacists.

We do, however, have a problem in denouncing the more extremist members of minority groups, probably out of fear that if we do denounce them, we ourselves will be labeled as racist.

With the racial tensions that exist in this country still today, and that have existed for decades, do we really need to highlight racial differences by marking the anniversary of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Do we really need to celebrate a Black History Month, or to celebrate ethnic culture at a Black Expo event?

Do people like Jesse Jackson really need to get involved with the disciplinary decisions of a local school district in Illinois? He said he was involved because he felt the expulsion of some young men for fighting was too extreme. But would he have gotten involved, or even taken notice, if these same young men were white instead of black?

It is very easy in this country to denounce hate groups -- those who bash blacks, gays, Jews, or any other minority. And it should be easy to denounce these lunatics. It is not quite so easy, though, to jump on the bandwagon to oppose the racist practices of minority groups, for fear of being labeled racist ourselves.

Should this country be more like a melting pot or a salad bowl? Perhaps the answer is neither. Maybe America should strive to be more like a stew kettle. In a stew, the vegetables are all recognizable, yet their flavors meld together, becoming richer and more robust than the flavors of any of the separate vegetables alone.

Americans should acknowledge the different cultures and histories of its constituent peoples, and assimilate them into the culture of America. We should be a country of Americans that happen to have disparate histories, not a country of African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, or other ethno-Americans. That tends to separate us, back into the salad mix.

In this land of e pluribus unum, we must acknowledge our diversity while not allowing our diversity to control us. We should be a country of different colors, but one in which all inhabitants are color blind. There should be equality of opportunity for all races, but those opportunities must be made by the individual, through drive, perseverance, and strength. Opportunities should never be handed out based upon race, religion, or ethnicity.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas once related how difficult it was for him as a young black man trying to make something of himself in the 1950's. It was tough back then because of legal discrimination. Thomas also related how much more difficult it is for today's black youths, not only because of any lingering prejudices, but primarily because many of today's minorities believe they are owed compensation for past practices. This stifles personal drive and motivation. They become their own handicap.

Thomas is correct. The sooner men like Jesse Jackson and groups like the NAACP stop pointing out how bad minorities have it, the sooner the majority can forget that minorities actually exist. And once there are no more minorities in our minds, then everyone, by default, will be treated equally. Isn't that what everyone really wants?

Copyright © 2001 by Jerry Wilson.