"I think this Barack Obama guy is by far the best candidate but I just can't bring myself to vote for him."
Okay...I'm sure most of you have had a similar conversation about one political candidate or another. It wasn't the comment that caught my attention, it was his reasoning.
"You just don't understand how bad race relations will deteriorate if he wins this election. Right now things are quite because it's all under the surface. You have no idea what will boil over if a black man wins the presidency."
That was said to me in the summer of 2008.
Before Ferguson.
Before Baltimore.
Now before anyone gets too upset, let me assure everyone that I am not blaming the president for the situations in Ferguson or Baltimore.
Others have already done that. Too much time and effort has already been spent on playing the blame game. That doesn’t help anyone.
It is time to have an honest, serious, forthright discussion on the state of racial relations in this country. One word stands out from my friend's comment though: "deteriorate."
I would say he hit the nail on the head with that one.
I have had a wide variety of different jobs over the past twenty years and I have worked with a wide variety of people. The cultural and racial differences between these people were always evident, but as my friend said they were also below the surface.
That is no longer the case. I witness arguments on almost a daily basis that digress into racial tension. The arguments very rarely start off that way, but they always seem to devolve into something racial.
These experiences have led me to one very blatant conclusion: the concept of a post racial America is still far from our grasp.
Some believed we as a nation would achieve this goal the minute we elected a president that was anything other than white.
They were wrong.
Others believe that we can achieve this goal within the next generation.
That is not looking good either.
The bottom line is that race is still a hot button issue within the United States of America, even more so since the 2008 presidential election. The problem isn't going away. As my friend put it years ago, the situation is "deteriorating."
I wish I had all of the answers to this problem. I wish any of us did. But the truth is that only by opening ourselves up to an honest discussion about race relations can we ever begin the process of healing.
Cultures have differences. It is those differences that make each culture unique and special. It is time to embrace and celebrate our differences rather than carry irrational chips on our shoulders.
Something has to change, and soon, if we as a country have any chance of ever achieving any real sense of balance and harmony.
John Eric Buckley is the author of Disgruntled, Elsewhere and The Worst of Times. He is currently working on the sequel to his detective series The Worst of Times, tentatively titled Stranger Times. His latest novel, Disgruntled, is the first entry into a new series of semiautobiographical romantic comedies. The second installment, Sunny Side Up, will be published later this year. He is also currently editing a new short story collection. Buckley’s books are available in paperback or for download to all Kindle and Nook devices.
All of Buckley’s books are available at http://www.amazon.com/John-Eric-Buckley/e/B00F7MLT3I
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