Outcry for Obama to lead the race discussion

In “A Job Too Big for One Man” (November 3), Op-Ed contributor Orlando Patterson underscored the limits of President Obama’s ability to advance the cause of racial justice, and emphasized that he “can’t do it alone.”  Patterson is right in what he said and wrong in what he implied.  While he is right the President cannot do it alone, the President need not do it alone.   As the leader of this country, the President is expected to lead others, and bring his substantial influence to bear as an agent for change.

We as Americans, and especially white Americans, may be overly concerned that President Obama may be too focused on race.  Consequently, the administration may be even more unwilling to address race-related issues than if the President was white.  Patterson suggests that it is up to others to take up this important issue.  But it is not simply that the administration seems reluctant to address race head-on or steer the race conversation in a meaningful way, it is also that the administration is often critical when other Democrats attempt to do so.  When former President Carter suggested that race may play a role in the opposition to the President’s health care agenda, particularly in light of the Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst, President Obama was quick to dismiss the suggestion, and assert that race was not a factor.  And again, when Attorney General Holder raised the issue, President Obama took exception.  The Sonia Sotomayor hearings were yet again an opportunity to engage questions of race, but the Obama administration was determined not to make those hearings a teaching moment.   It is one thing for President Obama to not be the point person on race.  It is another for the administration to push the issue off the table when others step up.

Many believe any talk about race is necessarily divisive, and that certainly can be the case.  But there is also a way and a need to talk about race in a more skillful and productive way.   We need to move away from just talking about personal prejudice in terms of whether someone is a racist or not.  We need to acknowledge that many of our society’s structures and our unconscious cultural associations have a profound racial impact.  The way we fund schools, draw jurisdictional boundaries, and associate crime with race are just a few examples.

While we should not expect President Obama to carry this charge by himself, we should urge the President to lead.  We also have a responsibility to examine not just what the work our institutions do but our unconscious assumptions as well.  We need to step back and assess the many institutions we take for granted – education, health benefits, low-cost credit, prime home loans, well-paid jobs, just to name a few – institutions which continue to perpetuate inequality by unevenly distributing opportunity along racial lines.  And until those structural inequities are resolved, we need to speak out and keep the discussion going.

When it comes to discussion of race, President Obama silences the multitudes and turns attention to other matters.   But sometimes, that’s not what’s best for America.  As our Attorney General Eric Holder says, we are a nation of cowards when it comes to talking about race.  But our President needs to be brave in his discourse.  He needs to step forward to lead the discussion of how racial inequities, however subtle, persist in our society today.  The truth is that sometimes, the real issue is NOT just about policy.