Why the Reluctance to Talk About Race?

I have been thinking about reluctance and fear and how it isn’t always the avoidance of anxiety that deters people from speaking up or taking action. Sometimes it is the unwillingness to disclose unflattering information that thwarts speaking up. I believe this is the case with discussions of race.

Now that Obama has stimulated a discussion of race, the air waves are starting to fill up with the topic of race and the relations between whites and blacks. And one of the points being made is that people are reluctant to talk about this topic. Why is that?

As a white male, I am reluctant to speak about my private views of differences and similarities between whites and blacks when I don’t have any black friends. I know I can CLAIM very liberal views and say that differences in any traits of character or intelligence are non existent, but then I look like a hypocrite if I have no black friends.

Hence my reluctance to talk about race appears based on my own lack of consistency; my words are not backed up by actions and so liberal beliefs are only that, liberal beliefs. Why then am I shy about putting those beliefs in action by developing friendships with blacks?

I suspect this in turn relates not to any prejudice on my part, at least I don’t THINK I am prejudiced; instead I think it is because I don’t have the opportunity to interact with blacks. The groups I belong to do not have any blacks as members which itself is a sad statement. This suggests that the races are both operating in parallel universes, parallel but separate. Or, as in my case, the degree of separation is more extreme because I live in a non mixed neighborhood.

Not living in contexts in which I might make friendships with blacks or Latinos, for that matter, suggests one of the barriers that must be overcome before race relations can improve; and that barrier is lack of integration between the races.

With greater intermingling of the races, and therefore greater proximity, bonds of friendship might have a chance to form. And with more friendship, greater trust and openness would have a chance to develop.