Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103130432
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Of course there is racism here. In recent years there have been incidents, some violent, where race was a visible if not central factor. It's comforting to think of those as aberrations.
Explaining them away becomes more difficult, however, when readers describe moving to the valley from areas where they were less conscious of racial differences, only to find racism part of the climate here.
Roanoke's black mayor is re-elected with white votes, but it's hard not to notice the racial isolation in housing and socializing. An ugly debate last year on consolidating Roanoke city and county - and more recently, hearings by a city task force - have exposed intense feelings about race relations in the valley. We need to take a closer look at what may be a tumor on the body politic. That's one reason for the Readers Forum issue examined today.
This is no scientific poll. Readers' anecdotal evidence isn't the kind of data that would satisfy a sociologist or anthropologist. But it means much to those who offer it. They have seen or lived through this or that; it may not give a complete picture of the world, but it frames their perceptions of how other people think and act. And perceptions help define reality.
Thus we have readers who see the Roanoke Valley as having a problem with race because of prejudice they have encountered, due to their own skin color or that of a friend. They report problems at work or being shunned socially. They advocate changes both in people's hearts and in the way society treats its members.
For some, there already has been change, and they dislike it because they feel it has gone too far. Now, they believe, majority whites are put at a disadvantage because courts and other institutions bend over backward to avoid racial discrimination.
People may view the same situation through very different prisms. One reader accuses this newspaper of prejudice against blacks, especially in the way news is reported and displayed. Another looks at this same paper and sees bias against whites - including an effort to stir up racism where it is not an issue.
Differences in perception point up one key to the problem. Few of us see the situation as a whole. Like the blindfolded men assigned to describe the elephant, we feel it to be like a tree, a wall, a rope or some other part we happen to encounter and grab onto. With this, we feel we have adequate experience of the animal to say what it is like.
These letters do not give a composite of the entire elephant. What they suggest, rather strongly, is that more members of the entire community need to compare notes and impressions so as to get a more rounded image. There are divisions within the Roanoke Valley, and they appear to be both an effect and a cause of racial differences.
Those differences should be bridged. Contacts among groups, institutions and neighborhoods need to be broadened and improved. Nor is this simply a black-white matter; there are Orientals, Middle Easterners, Native Americans and other minorities within the Roanoke Valley that could benefit from greater visibility and understanding within the community.
The fruits of better race relations could be many: for example, peace within the neighborhoods; less institutional discrimination; closer cooperation between residents and police, hence better protection against crime; increased trust and civility among individuals and groups, replacing fear and suspicion with shared goals of community growth and improvement.
Perhaps most important, breaking down racial barriers extends our understanding and empathy. It also opens the way to higher self-esteem and greater personal achievement for more people. Those who feel trapped need more hope; those who see themselves as victims need fewer excuses for remaining that way.
We all should want the kind of community in which respect flourishes and prejudice withers. If racism is strong enough to hinder that sort of community growth, it is a problem the Roanoke Valley needs to confront vigorously, with open eyes and open lines of communication.
by CNB