Do we have a race problem?

Do we? Why is this so difficult for white people to talk about? We have white people who say that they aren’t racists and yet don’t want to talk about race. Why? What are these folks worried about?

Tell me, in what other part of life — any part of life — does something get better when you ignore it? Does that work well when you don’t have money and can’t pay your bills? How about when you experience some kind of health situation — just ignore it and it will go away? How about when there’s a problem with a relationship — maybe a marriage? Should we just pretend that there’s nothing wrong? How about with your work? How about with mental health? Or abuse? Climate change? Homelessness? Corruption? Lying? Or even car trouble? Give me one example, just one, in which things improve because they get ignored and we pretend there isn’t a problem.

I’m sure someone will be smart enough to name something, but the problem is with the word problem. I’m not talking about a nuisance. Ignoring a phone call and having it go away isn’t a problem. You’re not in danger from a phone call. You might be inconvenienced, but not in danger. Or ignoring the door bell — not really a problem.

So why the hesitation and resistance to talking about race? Maybe because it might expose us, we might have to be vulnerable. We might have to get out of our own world and look through someone else’s eyes for a time. We might come across something painful. We might come across something that we can’t comprehend. We would not be in control — that’s what…