So much work left …

When John McCain stopped a woman at one of his campaign events after she started criticizing Obama as a “Arab” she couldn’t trust, he corrected her by saying that Obama is not an Arab and that he is actually a family man, an honest American who McCain happened to have disagreements with. And McCain got lauded for that.

He did clear a bar that day, but that bar was pretty low. We might hope that one day our national politicians could stand up for the fact that being identified as an “Arab” or a “Muslim” shouldn’t be an insult in the first place.

I have had many discussions with my friends (multi-racial, men and women) about our collective history and legacy of slavery, segregation, discrimination and overall mistreatment of minorities, and many of their views have been that a) yes, wrongs have been done in the past but b) all people are now responsible for getting their act together and organizing their own communities to better themselves.

They do clear a bar, one that recognizes the sins of our past, but that bar is pretty low. We might hope that one day we can all acknowledge that not only are we far from having a level playing field, but specific groups are still suffering from decades and centuries of abuse.

When I have to use the example of the Americans with Disabilities Act to explain to people why some groups need and indeed deserve the support of the Federal government in order to strive, it tells me we have much work left to do to explain what “level playing field” means.

When I have to explain to middle class Americans that some of their fellow citizens literally cannot even imagine, let alone dream to achieve, a future they themselves take for granted, it tells me we have much work left to do to explain what the “tyranny of low expectations” means.

When I discuss hate crimes with my friends and they agree that blacks, or gays or other minorities shouldn’t be targeted, but still don’t think they should be a “protected class” under the law, it tells me we have much work left to do to explain what “racism” means.

When my friends tell me that the reason why women get paid less than men for the same work is because they are willing to do the work in the first place, it tells me we have much work left to do to explain what “systemic sexism” means.

When I’m told that it wasn’t just slaves that “worked hard to build America”, it tells me that we have much work left to do to explain what “slavery” means.

We have so much work left to do to get to a place where most of us truly recognize that the decades and centuries of neglect we have inflicted upon minorities have brought us to today’s reality that the playing field is far from level, and we are far from all having the same opportunity to contribute and succeed. The few of us who recognize this reality have to continue to both be patient in explaining it and be uncompromising in demanding that it be corrected.