Despite criticisms by professional media haters such as Tavis Smiley, who compared President Obama’s recent statements on racial profiling and the verdict in the Trayvon Martin shooting death as being “as weak as pre-sweetened Kool Aid,” most black men across America nodded in agreement as Obama very thoughtfully described the pain of being racially profiled as a young black man.
In listening to the president recall incidents in which car door locks were clicked or purses were clutched tightly as the result of his mere proximity to white Americans, I reflected upon my own encounters as a young brother growing up in East St. Louis and thought that Obama’s sentiments were, in fact, as strong as a black cup of Starbucks coffee.
How many times during job interviews was I asked by white interviewers “how in the world” was I accepted into Boston University despite coming from East St. Louis Senior High? The implication of their question was that my “blackness” and the negative reputation of East Boogie should have relegated me to the status of low achiever.
Then there was the occasion in which an employer held a work-related function at a prestigious St. Louis County country club. As I was in the midst of mingling with co-workers, an unknown white gentleman approached me and asked me to “get him a drink.” He failed to notice that I wasn’t dressed like the bar staff, but he did notice that I was black and, in his mind, should have been one of the help.
And there was the time when I was returning from vacation and boarding a plane in Fort Lauderdale. A middle-aged white woman stared repeatedly at my college ring, finally getting up the nerve to ask, “What sport did you play?” to which I replied, “I don’t understand your question.”
She went on to explain that because I wore a college ring, in her mind I must have played some sport. I doubt that she would have assumed the same of a young white man.
However, the luxury of white privilege in America is that one can get away with making racist, irrational and even deadly assumptions about blacks and others who simply happen to be different.
A lethal assumption was made about Trayvon Martin and others, and inconvenient and hurtful assumptions were made about President Obama and me.
Tavis Smiley also should be able to relate to the types of “experiences” and “history” that Obama referred to in his remarks. Yet, Smiley’s agenda is to criticize the president at all costs rather than recognize the brilliance (in this instance) of his oratory. It says more about Smiley’s pettiness than Obama’s comments.
And it is OK to hold President Obama accountable for instances in which he may be in error, but to fail to ever have any balance in one’s criticism of Obama does a disservice to the president – and to Smiley, who should know better as a media professional.
President Obama’s remarks were not intended to resolve the race problem in America, but should be the beginning of an ongoing and honest dialogue if we are ever to advance racially as a society.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
