LETTERS: On race, ostracism

The flip side of a racial conundrum

To the editor:

When reading Kendra Hamilton’s column, I was reminded of a conversation I had a few years ago with an African-American co-worker. I’ve forgotten what it was we were discussing specifically, but whatever the conflict was, we were able to discuss it honestly and resolve it successfully.

I looked at her and said, “Why can’t we have this sort of dialogue on a larger scale?” Her answer was telling. “Because you know I can’t tell this to my people.” It was the flip side of the racial conundrum described by Ms. Hamilton. My friend couldn’t go back to her “people” and admit that she’d actually interacted with a white person in a way that demonstrated that our skin colors were different was irrelevant. Tribal responses to fear, whether based in reality or superstition, are hard to expunge, especially when the differentiating tribal characteristics are so tangible, so visible, as skin color. Knowing this, the key is to find a “tribal” characteristic of a different sort.

In that vein, I offer an example. It was 1980, and my best friend Jan, a young white woman, was a Head Start teacher. Easily 90 percent of her 20 young charges were black. At this particular Head Start, breakfast and lunch were provided, and the kids’ seats were assigned. From meal to meal, Jan would sit at a different table, making sure that she sat with all of the kids on a rotating basis. One day, she sat down at a table to overhear Charles, one of her four-year-old students say, “I hate white people.”

Knowing that he was simply repeating something he’d heard from someone else, Jan decided to probe a little. “Charles,” she said. “I’m white. Does that mean you hate me?”

It was obvious that the question took the little fellow by surprise, and for the next few seconds, he was silent, his little mind churning, as he tried to make sense of it all. Finally, his face brightened.

“You’re not white,” he said. “You’re my teacher.”

And a little child shall lead them …

— Vally M. Sharpe, Asheville, N.C.

Intimidation, ostracism certainly was around

To the editor:

Great piece by Kendra Hamilton on white victims of racial discrimination.  That fear of intimidation and ostracism was certainly there.

— Chip Brown, Conway, S.C.

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