A Matter Of Perspective

As I ran through the Democrat & Chronicle's Editorial Board Blog a few days ago, I came across this Max Anderson post. I twice considered responding, but my courage failed me. In fact, it is with some trepidation that I post this entry . I suspect that many white readers are, like myself, fearful of being labelled a racist for engaging in a discussion with racial overtones and/or criticizing a leader of the black community, like David Gantt. In fact, if you review the comments attached to Mr Anderson's post along with the comments associated with "What is all the hoopla about?" on the Chili Blog and "Gantt's Remark" on the Gates blog, I think you will see that there is some very deep-seated emotion surrounding this issue.

It is quite clear that I have a different view of the extent of racism in Monroe County and America, generally, than do Mr. Anderson or the D&C Editor, Mr. Lawrence, or commentors Gloria Winston al-Sarag and Howard J. Eagle, who contributed much to the blogs I referred to above. While I acknowledge that racists and racism persist, I do not perceive racism to be as pervasive in our society as those gentlemen and lady do. Obviously, the fact that I, like most white Americans, have never been discriminated against due to my skin color, while many black Americans have been and continue to be, is part of the explanation for the difference in our perspectives.

I do, however, believe that some part of black Americans' perception of the extent of racism is due to the "leadership" of black politicians and commentators who still rely on identity politics and use of the "race card" to achieve their ends. My observations of Mr. Gantt over the past 20-25 years lead me to place him in that category of "leader".

I have criticized Mr. Gantt because I have found his efforts to be backward looking and counter-productive. He has often stood in the way of projects in Rochester and Monroe County unless he could extract concessions for what he sometimes calls "his community". I am somewhat leery of making such criticisms, as I realize that critics of Mr. Gantt do so at their peril. Recently, on the Gates blog, strident Gantt supporters accused some of his critics of racism. I had not noted the supposed racist overtones in their criticism, but Mr. Gantt's supporters did. Similarly, during the debate on the Public Defender selection, many black observers suggested that the actions of the Monroe County GOP Legislature majority parallelled the conduct of the authorities in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama in the 60's. In my mind, this was simply a partisan political dispute; to Mr. Gantt and many in the black community, it was a Civil Rights issue. I suppose my view can be attributed to ignorance of the extent of racism in the community. But it is my honest belief that the GOP players were motivated by politics only and that it was Mr. Gantt's actions which led directly to the development of the racial dimension of the issue. For more on Mr. Gantt's role in the PD controversey, check this post by Lucy on the Mustard Street blog.

As fate would have it, this year's Presidential campaign may give us a chance to test the extent of racial attitudes in the country. I would hold up Barack Obama's candidacy as a prime example of my point about differing perspectives. To me, and to many (most?) white Americans, Barack Obama is not a "black" politician. I do not perceive him as a black man, nor does his race define him to me, nor, apparently, does it to the increasing numbers of non-minority voters who are propelling him towards the Democratic nomination. This is in contrast to black voters who, by virtue their near-unanimous support for Obama, do seem to perceive him as "their" candidate.

Yet Senator Obama has not campaigned as a traditional black candidate. His campaign has not evoked traditional race-oriented themes, as have those of many black politicians like David Gantt, locally, and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, nationally. In fact, Obama's candidacy (and possibly, his Presidency) could well go a long way towards ridding the country of the vestiges of racism. The benefits of the ascendancy of a "trans-racial" or "post-racial" black leader, like Senator Obama will, however, be muted somewhat by black politicians and pundits (like Gantt, Jackson, and Sharpton) for whom race identification and victimization, remain their basic modus operandi.

So to Mr. Anderson I would say, yes, our community is divided, but I do not think that there is a simple explanation for the division. Racism is certainly a factor, however, attempting to attribute racist motives to any critic of the conditions in Rochester is unhelpful. It is clear that blacks in Rochester still suffer from anti-black bias in the white community. It is equally clear, however, that the problems of violence, joblessness, drug abuse, and lack of educational success, which beset the black community to a disproportionate extent, cannot be explained away solely, or even largely, by claims of racism. Politicians who by their words and actions, make such claims, actually do a disservice to both the black community and the larger community as a whole.


Ed. Note: The date on this post (2/15) is apparently the date from the original draft. The final version published here was written on 2/20 and should have been so dated.