NON-WHITE

Non-White

The recent flaps around "racial" statements lately put a spotlight on the following fact: there is no true racial diversity in this country... not yet. We still live in a "white, non-white" culture. Almost every cultural leader has recently demonstrated his/her ignorance of any culture but their own.. exposing their deep, desolate "whiteness" that they hold up as some sort of American beacon, or standard that all others must be judged by, including other "white" people. That is why only one word- "white"- is needed for a racial classification on the census, why the media "naturally" has only "white" people on the set, to the point where "non-white" really sticks out, why schools continue to feature history from a "white" perspective, despite the advances of the internet that obviously proves otherwise, and the laziness of "white" people to interact with "non-whites,"and why most "white" people have only seen/been educated with/live with ... other "white" people. Ask yourself, do you have "non-white" neighbors.. and do you know them by name? Do you work with "non-whites" and can honestly dialog with them? Do you seek "non-white" knowledge on the internet, and discuss it with your "white" friends?
Do you actively try to do your homework about political issues and history that would bring us together as americans? Do you celebrate "non-white" cultural events with knowledge that goes deeper than the latest hip-hop stereotypes or tv reality shows? Have you attempted to learn a "non-white" language in a conversational way?

The good news is that progress is definitely happening. A mere quip in the single-scotch room of the congressional elite a few years back would have been unnoticed entirely.
Today it is a major flap among "white folks." This is progress. A black president that rises above the racial flap and keeps his eye on the prize of moving forward. This is progress. Blogs, books, and banter that is discussing what was, a few years back, entirely taboo about racial matters. This is progress. The emergence of young folks who don't buy into "being american" means trying to spread the "white" culture. This is progress. A black president, clearly elected by the majority of the people. This is progress.
When I see snippets of americans trying to understand each other, and reaching out to each other for knowledge and strength, I am witnessing Dr. Martin Luther King's dream being, ever so slowly, realized.