1. Why me?
I remember reading, many years ago, about a study the result of which seemed convincing to me then and seems even more convincing to me now. If I recall correctly, the teacher of an elementary school class had a student come up and stand in front of the room. Then she said, as I retell it: "Jimmy, you've been doing great! I'm very proud of you! Now sit down." Whereupon Timmy smiled broadly, and buoyed by praise, floated, as it were, upon a sea of frowns. The study found that if you praise someone before a group, the unpraised majority will tend to view it as a criticism of them. "What about me, Mrs. Edwards? You must think I'm doing badly." Anyone familiar with human nature knows this to be true.
If you think this finding only applies to kids, think again. It is behind much of the white criticism to the Black Lives Matter movement. I will explain.
The working class is under increasing--and unnecessary--duress in the United States. A shameful percentage of the wealth generated by the recent recovery has gone to the very wealthy; not only that, the poor and the working class were forced to bear the brunt of the untrammeled greed of Wall Street. It was the bankers and such whose fanatical devotion to the golden idols of money and power lead them to irresponsible decisions; they escaped the consequences of their acts, the poor and working class are still paying dearly for their errors.
All members of the working class have been affected. Whites have been victimized as well. Especially under-educated white males--their incomes have been declining for a long time. Once you could live the American dream as a white man without a college degree; now lack of education is an invitation to the America nightmare. Please don't misunderstand; I'm not saying that African-Americans were not denied participation in the glory days of Ozzies and Harriets; racism and gender discrimination were rampant. What I am saying is that when whites under siege hear of a movement called "Black Lives Matter" the immediate reaction of many will be, "What about me?" And that is exactly what has happened.
The reaction is inevitable as it is unjustified. No objective person of any race can deny that racism is still very much with us. No objective person of any race can deny that there haven't been egregious cases of white police officers abusing blacks, too often ending in death, The abuse, which has gone on for far too long, has to stop, "Black Lives Matter" is a legitimate movement. My only criticism is this: in anticipation of the "what-about me?" reactions of disgruntled whites, maybe a better name for the movement would have been, "Black Lives Matter Too!" Imagine the progress we would make in combating income inequality if the poor and the workers of all color came together--every Republican's nightmare!
2. Why Can't They Be Like Us?
No objective person of any race can deny... OK, I can understand some of the testiness of the hard-pressed white working class. But what about the lack of empathy among those who have no financial worries at all?
I was looking at my YouTube video recommendations and, Lord knows how, there was Bill O'Reilly. My jaw dropped as I listened, my eyes bulging with, well, shock. There he was insisting that there was no racism in the United States! He was arguing with a blond woman who asserted that racism was embedded in the current cultural fabric. He became livid. He said he was ashamed of her conviction that racial prejudice still exits; he implied that she was unpatriotic and playing into the hands of America's enemies. Besides, some degree of racism exists in all countries, he asserted--as if that was a justification to dismiss a widespread American problem. Isn't that a bit like a doctor in the 1950s concluding that, since tuberculosis exits around the world, we can afford to be complacent about the cases in our own back yard? On a more recent video, he insisted that the "Black Lives Matter" movement is a hate group, comparable to the Klu Klux Klan!!
Mr. O'Reilly miserably fails what I call the Moccasin Test. If he had sincerely tried--the data is out there--to walk a mile or two in a black person's shoes, he would not be able to make such ridiculous statements.
America's great advantage is its pluralism. It has allowed our country to be a magnet for talented people from all around the world. E Pluribus unum--What will happen if we let our country's motto deteriorate into "From Many, two or three or four?" What would happen if we let that motto, which has served most of us well, degenerate into "Everyone for himself and God against all?"
Trouble is that many whites ("us") consider blacks "them."
A friend of mine once said, wisely: First, you have to identify with yourself. Then, you extend that identification to family and friends; after that, most important, you reach out to everyone else. O'Reilly's concerns dead-end with people who look like him and who are rich like him. Not a great moral achievement.
What if the O'Reillys of this world ignored how much melanin one had in one's skin and how much moolah one had in one's pocket? What if the O'Reillys saw what happened to Freddie Gray and say, "This has got to stop! He could have been my son!"
I am white and a senior--that puts me in the most conservative demographic group in America. I would like to have a chance to consider voting for a true conservative. That is unlikely if the Republican Party remains the party of oligarchs.
Conclusion
All right, Mr. Armchair President, what should we do now?
Two Things.
1. Assure that all Americans who can work have jobs that pay a living wage. Assure that all Americans have adequate housing. Assure that all Americans live in safe neighborhoods. Norway does it, Sweden does it, why can't we? Workers would be more satisfied with their lives--and empathy increases with happiness. Working class whites would be thus less likely to have the disgruntled Why-Me? view fostered by Fox News.
2, Sharply reduce the segregation of poor African Americans into high-poverty neighborhoods. Implement the Fair Housing Act of 1968! Whites red-lined blacks into slums long ago; since then, their indifference has allowed things to actually get worse. (The number of people living in disadvantaged neighborhoods has nearly doubled since 2000.) Things must and will change, the sooner the better. Guess who's coming to borrow a cup of sugar? Your neighbor, no matter the race, no matter how rich, no matter; what really matters is decency, what matters is the real you. It can happen.
This will not be an easy path, no doubt, and, no doubt, there is no other.
Thank you, Mr. Armchair President! Do you hear the sound of one hand clapping? Congratulations, Mr. President! It's clapping for you.
I remember reading, many years ago, about a study the result of which seemed convincing to me then and seems even more convincing to me now. If I recall correctly, the teacher of an elementary school class had a student come up and stand in front of the room. Then she said, as I retell it: "Jimmy, you've been doing great! I'm very proud of you! Now sit down." Whereupon Timmy smiled broadly, and buoyed by praise, floated, as it were, upon a sea of frowns. The study found that if you praise someone before a group, the unpraised majority will tend to view it as a criticism of them. "What about me, Mrs. Edwards? You must think I'm doing badly." Anyone familiar with human nature knows this to be true.
If you think this finding only applies to kids, think again. It is behind much of the white criticism to the Black Lives Matter movement. I will explain.
The working class is under increasing--and unnecessary--duress in the United States. A shameful percentage of the wealth generated by the recent recovery has gone to the very wealthy; not only that, the poor and the working class were forced to bear the brunt of the untrammeled greed of Wall Street. It was the bankers and such whose fanatical devotion to the golden idols of money and power lead them to irresponsible decisions; they escaped the consequences of their acts, the poor and working class are still paying dearly for their errors.
All members of the working class have been affected. Whites have been victimized as well. Especially under-educated white males--their incomes have been declining for a long time. Once you could live the American dream as a white man without a college degree; now lack of education is an invitation to the America nightmare. Please don't misunderstand; I'm not saying that African-Americans were not denied participation in the glory days of Ozzies and Harriets; racism and gender discrimination were rampant. What I am saying is that when whites under siege hear of a movement called "Black Lives Matter" the immediate reaction of many will be, "What about me?" And that is exactly what has happened.
The reaction is inevitable as it is unjustified. No objective person of any race can deny that racism is still very much with us. No objective person of any race can deny that there haven't been egregious cases of white police officers abusing blacks, too often ending in death, The abuse, which has gone on for far too long, has to stop, "Black Lives Matter" is a legitimate movement. My only criticism is this: in anticipation of the "what-about me?" reactions of disgruntled whites, maybe a better name for the movement would have been, "Black Lives Matter Too!" Imagine the progress we would make in combating income inequality if the poor and the workers of all color came together--every Republican's nightmare!
2. Why Can't They Be Like Us?
No objective person of any race can deny... OK, I can understand some of the testiness of the hard-pressed white working class. But what about the lack of empathy among those who have no financial worries at all?
I was looking at my YouTube video recommendations and, Lord knows how, there was Bill O'Reilly. My jaw dropped as I listened, my eyes bulging with, well, shock. There he was insisting that there was no racism in the United States! He was arguing with a blond woman who asserted that racism was embedded in the current cultural fabric. He became livid. He said he was ashamed of her conviction that racial prejudice still exits; he implied that she was unpatriotic and playing into the hands of America's enemies. Besides, some degree of racism exists in all countries, he asserted--as if that was a justification to dismiss a widespread American problem. Isn't that a bit like a doctor in the 1950s concluding that, since tuberculosis exits around the world, we can afford to be complacent about the cases in our own back yard? On a more recent video, he insisted that the "Black Lives Matter" movement is a hate group, comparable to the Klu Klux Klan!!
Mr. O'Reilly miserably fails what I call the Moccasin Test. If he had sincerely tried--the data is out there--to walk a mile or two in a black person's shoes, he would not be able to make such ridiculous statements.
America's great advantage is its pluralism. It has allowed our country to be a magnet for talented people from all around the world. E Pluribus unum--What will happen if we let our country's motto deteriorate into "From Many, two or three or four?" What would happen if we let that motto, which has served most of us well, degenerate into "Everyone for himself and God against all?"
Trouble is that many whites ("us") consider blacks "them."
A friend of mine once said, wisely: First, you have to identify with yourself. Then, you extend that identification to family and friends; after that, most important, you reach out to everyone else. O'Reilly's concerns dead-end with people who look like him and who are rich like him. Not a great moral achievement.
What if the O'Reillys of this world ignored how much melanin one had in one's skin and how much moolah one had in one's pocket? What if the O'Reillys saw what happened to Freddie Gray and say, "This has got to stop! He could have been my son!"
I am white and a senior--that puts me in the most conservative demographic group in America. I would like to have a chance to consider voting for a true conservative. That is unlikely if the Republican Party remains the party of oligarchs.
Conclusion
All right, Mr. Armchair President, what should we do now?
Two Things.
1. Assure that all Americans who can work have jobs that pay a living wage. Assure that all Americans have adequate housing. Assure that all Americans live in safe neighborhoods. Norway does it, Sweden does it, why can't we? Workers would be more satisfied with their lives--and empathy increases with happiness. Working class whites would be thus less likely to have the disgruntled Why-Me? view fostered by Fox News.
2, Sharply reduce the segregation of poor African Americans into high-poverty neighborhoods. Implement the Fair Housing Act of 1968! Whites red-lined blacks into slums long ago; since then, their indifference has allowed things to actually get worse. (The number of people living in disadvantaged neighborhoods has nearly doubled since 2000.) Things must and will change, the sooner the better. Guess who's coming to borrow a cup of sugar? Your neighbor, no matter the race, no matter how rich, no matter; what really matters is decency, what matters is the real you. It can happen.
This will not be an easy path, no doubt, and, no doubt, there is no other.
Thank you, Mr. Armchair President! Do you hear the sound of one hand clapping? Congratulations, Mr. President! It's clapping for you.
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