Our Racial Divide

The divisive nature of our current President and the long history of racial tension in our country have converged to create an unstable and potentially explosive atmosphere. 

Trump is a master of race-baiting and dog-whistle racial tactics.  He entered the political stage with his absurd and transparently racist support of the birther movement, questioning our first non-white President’s legitimacy.  He has continued to utter, incite and provide cover for the type of racist and xenophobic outbursts that only a few years ago would have doomed any public figure associated with them.  Somehow, under the guise of defying ‘political correctness’, Trump is able to emerge unscathed after even the most scurrilous comments.

Some of his closest associates voice their absolute confidence that Trump is not personally a racist, but this beggars belief.  And ultimately his own personal feelings are moot if he is using racial animus as a political weapon.

There is a substantial and apparently rapidly growing segment of US society that feels empowered to give full throat to racist and xenophobic tropes.  Under Trump’s watch this type of behavior has crawled out from under the rocks and crevices and spread its disease with only tepid disapproval from conservatives.  This is a shameful display of political self-interest.

But there is also a troubling chasm over race between the much larger, moderate segments of society that would characterize themselves as liberals or conservatives.  Many liberals are convinced that both institutional and individual racism are at the core of many of our current national challenges and that our racial problems have never been adequately addressed.  They believe that aggressive measures to lift the status of blacks, whether in the form of reparations or other affirmative action style policies, are the only way to reach a more positive and egalitarian status quo.

Conservatives, on the other hand, feel that the ‘race card’ is overplayed and that the woes of African-Americans and Hispanics are a mix of self-destructive cultural traits (drugs, crime, single parent families, etc.) and the historical cultivation of dependency through liberal, welfare-style programs.  They believe that reparations or other affirmative action programs will simply exacerbate the problem.

Most conservatives sincerely believe that they are not racist, that they judge people individually on their merits.  The notion of ‘implicit bias’ is viewed as a form of guilt-shaming.  They point to the rise of South Asians and other non-white immigrant groups as evidence that American economic life still rewards hard work and diligence, and that Americans will embrace and accept anyone who has ‘American’ values.

Liberals point to the enduring legacy of slavery and the ubiquitous signs of ‘white privilege’ as proof that a more dramatic effort must be made to solve the race problem.  They see under-funded schools, housing bias, excessive incarceration and a host of other indications that people of color struggle under a much more onerous burden than either whites or recent immigrants. 

The fervent call to ‘address’ the race issue resonates in liberal circles but results in conservatives rolling their eyes.  The question is:  How can any kind of meaningful progress be made on this incredibly divisive issue?

The first thing that must be done is, in my view, clear beyond any reasonable doubt.  All Americans should unequivocally condemn, and demand the eradication of, racist and xenophobic speech, including the type of ‘racist whispering’ speech that Trump and some members of congress use.  

Addressing the problem of immigration through negative stereotypes of gangs, rapists and job-stealers appeals to the worst in ourselves and is a quick path to hate speech and violence.  Soft-pedaling or rationalizing groups who promote hate speech and allowing rallies to erupt in outbursts of ‘Send Her Back’ are simply unacceptable flirtations with racist and xenophobic hysteria.  They are shameful for any political figure, but especially pathetic for the President.  The full congress needs to hold Trump accountable for such abominations.

Addressing the broader and more complex problems of people of color, including police relationships, jobs, crime, healthcare, breakdown of the family, drugs and economic progress must be done on a less emotional and more data-driven basis.  Both sides must learn to avoid the demonization that is at the heart of our current political discord.  Conservatives who don’t believe in affirmative action or reparations should not be dismissed out-of-hand as racists protecting white privilege.  Liberals who call for more aggressive policies to bridge racial divides should not be labelled naïve, welfare-state socialists. 

The issues are complex and deserve thoughtful analysis and consensus-building.  We now have capabilities to analyze such problems through big data and modeling techniques that can give us insights that were unobtainable before.  It is time to start using technology to help counter some of the hysteria and acrimony that social media has engendered.  We need to study problems such as these rather than simply spit out sound bites and platitudes.  Cooler and more compassionate heads must prevail, or we are doomed to an ever-increasing level of conflict and distrust. 

We are already seeing the rotten fruit of Trump’s cynical racist strategy in recent violence.  If we do not take measures to renounce this despicable practice and thoughtfully address the core issues, then we can only expect things to get worse, and perhaps much worse.