Teachable Moment? Add It to the List

The so-called "beer summit" THIS WEEK at the White House was designed to be a symbol of the power of dialogue amongst folks who see the world differently. (See Charlton's comments on the meeting for New York's WPIX here). On more than one occasion, the entire incident that started with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. being arrested at his home (for being loud, belligerent, uppity -- take your pick) has been labeled a "teachable moment."

We wish.

Pardon our pessimism, but as we approach the third anniversary of writing weekly in this space, we wish that we had a quarter for each "teachable moment" we have referenced in that time; we'd have like $25 (which we would use to buy our own beer).

In all seriousness, though, as professors, we are sensitive to the importance of "teachable moments" -- those times when circumstances result in a possibility of understanding that could otherwise not have occurred (or would have been much more difficult to occur). In a sense, this blog is designed to take advantage of such moments; we apply scholarly principles and concepts to current events so that our readers -- most of whom could and/or do "teach" these ideas themselves -- are armed with multiple examples of the way racism continues to affect our public discourse and, subsequently, our attitudes and behaviors. Each of these events is a teachable moment from our perspective.

If you have a few minutes, scroll through the archives of THIS WEEK for a moment and take a look at all the teachable moments that have occurred over the past three years: Michael Richards, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Tea Parties, immigration reform, Don Imus, and on and on and on. We would love to believe that this will be different, but we tend to side with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker, who, when asked on This Week with George Stephanopoulos if this were a teachable moment, noted: "I'm skeptical about 'teachable moments' period. That is the term of art for the moment: 'Let's use this for a teachable moment.'"

Tucker went on to ask "What was the crime" that Professor Gates committed, and Michelle Malkin gave a less-than-enlightened answer about Sgt. Crowley's Black colleague who publicly supported the arrest -- the intellectual equivalent of "I have a Black friend so my actions could not be racist." (Malkin has a history of supporting such ignorance, including the contest that she sponsored to criticize the president's health care proposal that resulted in a widely-circulated picture of Obama in tribal garb with a bone through his nose.)

We're not at all skeptical of "teachable moments period," as Tucker is, but we agree that this is not one. In short, we don't need more teachable moments; we need to take advantage of all those that fall into our laps on a daily basis. We also agree (as we rarely do) with former Congressman J.C. Watts, who very astutely claimed on Meet the Press this morning that we are, as Attorney General Eric Holder famously noted in February, a nation of cowards when it comes to talking about race. These are not Watts's words, of course, but the point is the same. Here is what he said:

It's very difficult for political people to talk about the issue of race. And then that's very sad. That's unfortunate. I do believe the president wants to talk about the issue. I think he mishandled the Crowley situation; and, and he, you know, said at the outset, "I don't have all the facts." He probably should not have commented on it. However, Professor Gates, as he said, was a personal friend. I think he wants to have this discussion. And this discussion is just too difficult to have in politics, and it's unfortunate. America should--we put men on the moon, we, we can Google people, we've got BlackBerrys; but it's still very uncomfortable for us to talk about the issue of race. And, you know, we've got an African-American in the White House, and we still--we, we can't talk about it in our churches.

What is more likely to spark an honest and frank discussion about race, however, is the continual racist suggestions by so-called "birthers" that Barack Obama is not really "one of us." The heat was turned up THIS WEEK on birther conspiracy-stoker Lou Dobbs, when Media Matters reportedly bought airtime during Dobbs's own show to criticize his actions in this regard. This follows calls by Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center for CNN to remove Dobbs for his lack of journalistic integrity.

Consider this excerpt (here or below) of Dobbs explaining the "Apollo Alliance" conspiracy from his show THIS WEEK. Dobbs begins by sounding exasperated about how difficult it is to untangle this web of deceit stemming from the president himself, and then makes an interesting intonation with his voice when he says "vast left wing conspiracy" as if to simultaneously suggest that such an idea is silly while perpetuating its validity. He goes on to give a mini-lecture about the interrelationship between "labor," "the green movement," and (gasp) "social justice." He refers to Van Jones (who is Black) as "the guy behind the curtain," which plays on racist stereotypes about African Americans being untrustworthy, shifty and criminal. The "class" (complete with a white board and marker) continues with a photo of Jones (to indicate his race), and repeated references to "Black" and "communist," making references to other targets of middle class White male wrath such as ACORN and labor unions to tie it all together.



What's important for THIS WEEK readers, of course, is that race is used as a way to leverage the otherwise legitimate conservative ideas that Beck puts forth. At one point, Beck even notes that Obama says "I'm one of you guys," when he's really not. Beck puts forth a picture of a president who is getting one over on the American public, which is easier to sell because Obama is Black. After all, we expect Black folk to be corrupt, criminal and shady, so this nicely fits our existing racist framework. (Perhaps the best part of this clip is toward the end when Beck asks his conservative think tank Americans for Prosperity's Phil Kerpen to "talk him out of the crazy tree," as if anyone could at this point. Kerpen, of course, doesn't try to do so, but rather perpetuates the conspiracy.)

It may seem counter-intuitive, but these sorts of racist (and in this case, bigoted) attacks from the far right are actually more likely to stimulate a meaningful, sophisticated discussion about race than anything Barack Obama could do as president. As we argued back in March: "We have believed for some time that Obama's real work on racial justice is likely to come after his presidency has ended (whether that's after one term or two) because, as the first Black president, he will feel as if he needs to not appear to be 'too Black.'"

But the "birthers" and other folks who are demanding "I want my country back" (from the "other" who resides in the White House) have a chance to allow more thoughtful Americans to be reflective of the myriad ways racism works in America. Empathetic and bright conservatives and moderates will be urged to examine their own biases (as those on the left are expected to do more regularly) to see where and how race matters in their lives. Further, they will be forced to either side with the overt bigots and those who are too simple minded to believe that Whites, too, have inherent bias or to come to understand that no one is without perspective and that despite our history, the White perspective should not and cannot be the default "norm."

These would be monumental steps toward racial consciousness in America. While intellectuals of color have been arguing for this recognition (alongside White allies, of course) at least since Frederick Douglass, it very well might be a racist backlash against our first president of color that forces White folks to understand that Brown v. Board of Education, Martin Luther King and, indeed, the election of 2008 did not "fix" America's racial problems.

A couple of beers among folks who simply "agree to disagree" (as Sgt. Crowley stated in his statement after the meeting) is simply not the moment that we've been waiting for.

Note: For more analysis of THIS WEEK's events, including links to the most interesting and relevant stories at the intersection of race, politics and language, become a fan of the RaceProject Facebook page, or visit the public page often.