What I Think About When I Think About Race

by Drew Bush

Whenever I think about race it makes me uncomfortable. My brother and I have nearly constant conversations about it, and I know when we are getting to something meaningful when I begin to feel sick in my stomach. I know that I am being challenged.

Really, for me, that’s what I think about when I think about race. I think that all of us need to start engaging each other in more conversations about race. Whites need to engage whites. Minorities need to engage minorities. Whites need to engage minorities. And, Minorities need to engage whites. We need to challenge each other to think about race.

Lets face it, America is not a color-blind society. People are judged and treated differently based upon the way they look. And, consequently, different people have different perspectives on America because of the way they are treated.

Just look at the way people respond when someone white says something controversial. He is immediately branded a racist before any light can be shed on the truth.

More importantly, look at the way people around you are treated. I live in New Jersey, and I’m not going to lie to you. Minorities are treated differently. When I drive down the Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway, black people are disproportionately pulled over to the side. When I shop at the prestigious Short Hills Mall, I don’t have to worry about being followed around stores; but other people do.

Thus, when I run into sentiments like, "Oh, yeah, that’s really important...but what can I do," or "Well, I don’t think that’s true...I’m tired of dealing with it and it doesn’t really affect me" while discussing race, I find it rather startling.

First of all, let me say that all of those feelings are completely valid and can be relatively easily addressed. However , I also think that people who say such things need to open their eyes more to the world around them. But now, let me relate a conversation to you I had with two of my good friends.

One night during the week, one of my friends and I stumbled onto the topic of race. I say stumbled because every person I know only seems to stumble on conversations about race—even though they have plenty to say once they’re there.

So, anyway, their we were, stumbling onto the conversation of race. He said, "You know, I’m so tired of dealing with all of this stuff. The whole campus is in an uproar and I now have to sit through hour long meetings about it. I’m so tired of dealing with it."

I said, "Well, what exactly makes you feel like your sitting through too much of it? Do you think that what people are saying isn’t true? Or is it just boring?"

"I’m just tired of dealing with it. There is nothing I can do."

To me, this seems like the classic white response. Of course their is nothing you can do. When your done dealing with race at your meetings, you can go back to your friends and sit around and drink and be white. You don’t have to do anything. The person at the other end of the table might not have that luxury. "So, you just don’t want to deal with it?"

"No, I’m just frustrated. I just feel like I can’t do anything about it and I’m tired of them making me sit through these meetings when I can’t do anything."

"So basically your just tired of dealing with other people’s concerns because you can’t do anything to help them."

"Right. And, besides, life sucks for all people. If your fat or ugly or something, people are going to treat you worse."

That statement took me aback. "So you think that minorities don’t have any disadvantages?"

"No, I do. But I can’t do anything about it. So, why should I have to deal with it? I can’t do anything about it. Just like I can’t do anything about a fat persons weight problem."

Alright, I think that you get the idea. This conversation was important to me for several reasons. First of all, it highlights one of the most important things we can do about race.

We can challenge each other. We can sit through meetings. We can talk to our friends. We can even talk to strangers. This is all important work that needs to be done if anything is every going to be accomplished.

Secondly, I think it highlights an alarming trend that many white people fall victim to. We can turn our attention towards race whenever we feel like it. Or, we can just not deal with it at all.

This isn’t the same for a person of color. They must face it every day. They face it when they talk to a professor that looks different, they face it when they go to a party with all white students, they face it when they eat in the dining hall, and they face it when they talk to you.

So, if we’re ever to achieve a color-blind society where people don’t have to face questions of race, we must challenge each other to talk about it. We must begin to face it ourselves. We need to continue the conversation that many important people before us have already begun.