Tariq Nelson

On Monday, I attended a panel discussion sponsored by Institute of the Black World 21st Century Forum which included community leaders, activists, scholars and politicians on the growing debate on race in our country at Busboys and Poets here in Washington, DC.

In recent months, we have seen many incidents that have brought the issue of race to the forefront in recent months:

- Earlier this year, we saw the media controversy over the statements made by Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

- That event led to a speech on race by Senator Barack Obama.

- Obama’s speech led to Dr. Wright’s speech and press conference here in Washington, DC.

- Dr. Wright’s speech and press conference led to Senator Obama’s disavowal of Dr. Wright.

- A July 16^th New York Times poll on race in America that indicates that Obama “isn’t closing the divide on race.”

- The program, “CNN and Essence Special — Reclaiming the Dream”, July 18-19th

- The National Conference on Race and Reconciliation in America convened at the National Press Club, July 24-25th by Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen (who is white/Jewish) and his wife (who is black), Janet Langhart Cohen.

- And of course CNN’s much discussed, ‘Black In America‘ report, July 23-24th

There was pretty much a consensus that the panelists were dissatisfied with CNN’s program, but one panelist’s comment stood out to me when he said that he felt that dysfunction in the black community is being defined as blackness itself. He mentioned that the problems of the poor whites in West Virginia for example are not highlighted as the “white experience”.( I’ll go further and point out that poor whites are called “white trash” to point out that they do not represent the norm when it comes to whites).

As a person who is troubled by all the racist comments and emails I get, I can really agree with this statement. On the other hand, I know that these pathologies are so extreme that we must ask ourselves if we can ignore the race/ethnicity question. Even those that make it out of the cycle of dysfunction have to face problems associated with the perception in peoples’ minds that we - particularly black males - are all criminal. This perception affects how non-blacks (i.e., police) treat us in middle and upper class neighborhoods and can lead to new problems for the adults and children.

Another common sentiment was CNN’s program didn’t cover any new for black people. In other words, this show was intended for non-blacks to learn about black people.

My hope is that not only will more panel discussions like this will take place throughout the country, but that some solutions will come out of it. We need to take this conversation in a totally new direction in which we discuss how we can meet the challenges that we all face.

We need a massive grassroots effort to get those not mired in these pathologies to volunteer their time. More college students should be encouraged to tutor and mentor inner city children. We must start to teach and encourage children the consequences of making bad choices on their personal lives as well as its detrimental effect on the community at large.

Like one of the panelists, I am tired of going over these statistics over and over again. It is time to move from anger to action, from blaming to solving. As JFK said, “Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future”

This is the message that I am looking for in these discussions. I think many common people feel the same way, but just don’t know where to go to help where they can be most effective.

I think that right now, people are ready to be inspired - this is why Obama’s message of “hope” and “change” resonates. But I can not emphasize enough that it can not stop there. We can not leave the people feeling hopeless and feeling that there is no solution for these ills and no future for our communities. This is why I hope that not only will future conferences and dialogues like this become more extensive and grow, but that there will be a challenge put to the audience at the end of each session to help solve the problems rather than leaving with a sense of helplessness.

I don’t have the answers, but as we all come together from different walks of life (and races), we can come up with the genuine solutions needed in our communities. We are all in this struggle together and each of us - regardless of race - should see this as an American problem because what affects one part of our society ultimately touches all of us in some way.

More information on the panelist is below:

Dr. Ron Daniels, President, Institute of the Black World 21st Century and Distinguished Lecturer, York College, City University of New York and hosts radio talk show host.

Dr. Ronald Walters: Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland.

Makani Themba Nixon: Executive Director, The Praxis Project, a nonprofit organization helping communities use media and policy advocacy to advance health equity and justice.

Dr. Tricia-Bent Goodley: Associate Professor of Social Work, Howard University and former Chair and Chief Instructor of the National Association of Black Social Worker’s National Academy for African-centered Social Work and the National Public Policy Institute.

Nkechi Taifa: Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute and an Adjunct Professor at Howard University Law School, teaching a seminar on “Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System.”

Dr. Michael Fauntroy: Assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University, where he teaches courses in civil rights policy and American government and specializes in race and American politics.

Joe Madison: Also known as “The Black Eagle” by his Radio-One WOL-AM listeners in Washington D.C. and nationally on XM Satellite Radio channel 169, is one of America’s top talk radio personalities. He has been named one of Talker Magazine’s 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts nine times. Frequent analysis on CNN.

Kenny Barnes: President of ROOT, Inc., which stands for Reaching Out to Others Together. This group is dedicated to ending violence and creating peaceful and safe communities. Co-Host of Spirit in Action on WPFW, 89.5, Pacifica Network, Washington, D.C.

Donna Edwards Democratic Candidate for Congress in Maryland: Will be first African-American congresswoman from MD. In such a heavily Democratic district, she is affectively the Congresswoman already.