A Black and A White Man in Conversation
by Tom Jenz
In terms of the law, education, social justice, healthcare, and the media, African-Americans have made gains in those areas, but still face obstacles in gaining full inclusion and equality. Moving forward, what will this mean in America? Should Blacks assimilate into the white concept of successful behavior and leave their culture and traditions behind, even their urban sub-language? The vast majority of Americans are white, with13% Black, and 9% Latino. When whites talk about traditional America or American ideals, they probably leave out Black culture.
According to a poll by The New York Times and Siena College,
just one-quarter of Black citizens describe themselves as ‘proud’ of the state of America, compared to nearly half of whites. A little more than 6 in 10 Blacks say they feel ‘hopeful’ about the state of the country. More than 8 in 10 Blacks say they feel ‘exhausted.’
Then, there is perception. A recent Pew Research poll shows that only 14% of Black Americans think the mainstream media does a fair job of covering their communities. Most Blacks get their news through social media sites that feature Black people talking about Black issues. It is one way to hang onto their culture. Black culture represents the music, art, literature, language, religion, and cuisine of African American people.
The Milwaukee intellectual and Black Talk Radio show host, Dr. Ken Harris, teaches criminal justice at Concordia University. He also spent 24 years as a Milwaukee cop. At 65, he has accumulated informed opinions. I refer to Dr Harris as an ‘urban renaissance man.’ One day not long ago, we met at an inner city coffee shop and talked about racial differences among other topics
Black and White
I’m white. He’s Black. In a conversation over coffee, we talked about the option of being ‘right or white’ for Black Americans.
On his recent talk show, Dr Harris addressed his primarily Black radio listeners with two questions: “Why are Black people constantly compared to white people?” and “Would you rather be right or white?”
“In America, we live in a society where the benchmark is created by white people because they are the majority,” Dr Harris told me. “Everything you do needs to conform to the majority – your hairstyle, how you talk, the way you dress, where you live. Even in slavery days, when the slave owners wanted to convert the Blacks to Christianity, they would bring in a white minister who talked about the white characters in the Bible stories. In white churches, they stress certain values like love for your country, love the flag, faith in your government.”
I pointed out that enslaved Blacks adopted traditional Christianity and the values of family, marriage, forgiveness, and loving your neighbor. Currently in the urban Black community, the Christian religions are very strong for traditional worship and for social interaction.
Dr Harris pointed out that there are still gaps between whites and Blacks, and the whites are the arbiters in everything including business, education, the arts, and government.
“Let’s use you as an example,” I said. “You are highly educated, a college professor, a talk radio show host, and a retired police officer. You live a comfortable middle class life, but you also happen to be Black. My question is do so called successful Blacks try to emulate white society?”
“I guess I did emulate the traditional white path to success,” he said. “Long ago, I learned I was acceptable to whites if I fit their mold, lived in their corridors. I do reflect the white attire, the hairstyle, the speech.” He paused, thinking, then, “But I realized I was slowly losing my identity, my culture, my tribe. I discovered that many things important to me do not have to do with white culture.”
I suggested that middle and upper middle class Black people in the Milwaukee area seem to fly under the radar, play it low-key, never boast about their possessions, accomplishments, status. If you are a Black businessman or a professional, doctor, lawyer, banker, you probably live in a white world, at least, on the job.
“But they can still be connected to their Black culture,” he said, “having their kids hang out with other middle and upper middle class Black children, adults doing the same. Supporting our race, going to Black colleges and Black events, being active in Black nonprofits. We have fraternal organizations that promote these connections.”
I mentioned the current national political talking points: Family, Education, Healthcare, Climate change, Woke, and LGPTQ issues. The majority of politicians, businessmen, and pundits focusing on these issues are white.
“You’re right,” said Dr Harris, “and Blacks are expected to toe the line on these so-called progressive issues. For example, if you are Black, and do not support any part of LGPTQ, you cannot share that publicly. It’s unfortunate that we have a generation that seems to see only in ‘black and white.’ They have difficulty seeing gray. There seems to be no civility in differences of opinion. Educated vs uneducated, employed vs unemployed, communities, neighborhoods, classes, cities.”
The Cultural Perspective
For 24 years of his working life, Dr Harris was a Milwaukee police officer. A while ago, he told me that when he rode with a white cop in a police cruiser, the white cop might stop a car with rap music playing too loud and give the Black driver a ticket or a warning. If the white cop encountered a white driver who played loud rock music, he never stopped him.
“I understood the white cop’s behavior because there are some things culturally and racially motivated,” Dr Harris said, “but it’s not necessarily wrong. The difference between me and that white cop is that I could see the perspective. To him, it was normal behavior because white is always right, meaning oud rap music is not acceptable.”
I told him the same thing can be said for the white culture in suburban communities and in small towns. There is the white, generally conservative way of life, and it is accepted, almost without thinking. Then again, almost everybody in those communities is white. There also happens to be an underbelly of what I call ‘white fear.’ The perception is that if these whites were to go anywhere near an urban Black neighborhood, they might get shot or robbed or beaten. The result is the whites further isolate the Black race who are already a minority.
“Not long ago, I met a white friend in Cedarburg for breakfast,” Dr Harris said. “When I walked in the door, the all-white diners turned and stared at me. I guess I’m used to that kind of behavior.”
I said, “Cedarburg is almost all white, mostly upper middle class and highly successful residents. Beautiful little city, lovely downtown. The ideal of a white community. I see how a Black person would feel like an outsider in that kind of ‘white space.”
Noted Black Yale professor, Elijah Anderson, once said, “White people typically avoid Black space, but Black people are required to navigate the white space as a condition of their existence.” Anderson further said. “When an unfamiliar Black person enters the ‘white space,’ often the people there immediately try to make sense of him or her – to determine ‘who that is,’ or to figure out the nature of the person’s business and whether they need to be concerned. Stereotypes can rule perceptions, creating a situation that can estrange the Black person.”
On his Black Talk radio show, Dr Harris had brought up some negative observations that defined Black people – public displays of clothing such as low rider gang pants. Unhealthy food and diet choices. Crowded living arrangements. Urban Black residents living in rental housing and not taking care of their neighborhoods. And a big one – speaking in ebonics, the Black street language.
“Ebonics has been controversial for a long time,” I said. “Should ebonics be taught in schools?”
“Yes,” he said. “Ebonics should be taught so that teachers can understand how most urban Blacks talk. It’s a sub-language. Europeans have sub-languages. American Indians and Creoles have sub-languages. These are all acceptable, but not ebonics. Again, that is an example of white being right.”
“But in western cultures, there is a universal way English is taught in writing and in speaking,” I said. “Most people aspire to this method of communication. It is practically required in colleges.”
He agreed but with a caveat. “If I am a teacher in an urban Black school, I still have to understand the students’ way of talking, namely ebonics, in order to better communicate with them. If I grow up in a household and neighborhood that speaks ebonics, I will speak that sub-language in schools.”
I reminded him that the structure that we all live within – culture, business, politics, and education, is based on rules and behavior constructed over time by the white paradigm.
Along these lines, I switched gears. “You had once been a Milwaukee cop whose beat included different parts of the city, Black, White, Latino, Asian. Low Class, Middle class, High Class. What did you learn from this experience?”
“My most prominent memory was when I got transferred from an all white district to an all Black district,” he said. “When I drove around in the squad car in the Black district, I was greeted warmly by Black residents – hello, hi how are you. I thought that this was where I needed to be. White people feel a similar way. It’s natural to want to be in a community of people who look like you.”
“But I’m not sure the mainstream media understands the core Black community,” I said. “Black residents complain they don’t get equal coverage compared to white communities.”
Dr Harris went on to make the case that the media pay more attention to criminal activity in Black neighborhoods than in white. “Too many reporters cultivate sources, but don’t connect with sources. Black residents feel like this about the media – ‘You’re here to use me, not here to work with me.’”
He gave me an example of not connecting. “In Milwaukee and other large cities, there was unrest in urban Black neighborhoods after the George Floyd murder. Blacks rioting, looting, and burning. Whites didn’t understand that behavior because they did not live everyday within poverty, shootings, violence and criminal behavior. Blacks were frustrated and they broke loose. Most Blacks don’t agree with rioting, but I understand why what happened after George Floyd was almost inevitable.”
What is ‘Right or White?’
I wanted his opinion on what is “right” in the Black world of leadership. I told him that the kind of Black leader the media likes to feature, even embrace, is currently Deion Sanders, coach of the University of Colorado football team. He is popular with Blacks because he represents a Black influencer who rocks the old Jim Crow system, the stolen opportunities for Black citizens. There are a number of prominent Black coaches, but their methods and behavior reflect the white coach paradigm. But the outspoken Sanders upsets the system, the traditional white culture, the pattern of white behavior.
“In the Black community, we recognize Deion Sanders as a motivator and a good coach,” he said. “His big personality goes with the job. Keep in mind that we Blacks often have to code switch. Code switching means that if I join an organization or company, I make sure I dress, act, talk, and walk like a Black man is expected to. After work, I code switch back and can dress and act how I want to. It is stressful to live that way. This is another example of adopting the white paradigm.”
I brought up a quote from Dr Harris who once asked this question of his Black radio audience – “When Blacks try to stress their culture and diaspora, they are pushed aside. Now that equality is gaining strength, now that we have diversity and inclusion in most of the country, we now have equity of opportunity. So tell me, how should we behave?”
He told me, “I intended that comment as a rhetorical question in the hope that white people will overhear the answers. Finally Black people can feel comfortable reflecting their culture in speaking, dressing and behaving. Now that we have this newfound power, how will we behave? My take is we have to let go of ‘white being right.’ For too long, we followed white behavior because we wanted to belong. Now we can embrace our own culture including Black colleges and high schools and churches, and our own fraternal groups.”
Continuing with the notion of ‘Would you rather be right or white,’ I introduced questions I’d heard Dr Harris talk about: Are Black people too sensitive? Why do words like race and white seem to rile them up? Should Black people have to defend their culture, hair styles, music, lifestyle, language? Are they supposed to educate whites? Is it their responsibility to educate whites? Or should they just walk away? Or do too many Blacks try to be what other people want?
“In several ways, whites actually adopt Black culture and don’t know it,” he said. “Black people have been copied in music, singing, dance, jazz, rapping, hip hop, sports, attire, and recently, hair, makeup, fingernails, shoes, and skin tone. Being Black is an exotic look. Yet, we were taught for generations that we should speak, dress, and act like whites.”
The question remains: What is ‘right’ for Blacks? Their culture tends to emphasize community, family, and social justice. It encompasses collective values, traditions, and social structures that promote unity, mutual support, and resilience in the face of adversity.
In another PEW Research poll of Blacks from over a year ago, there was this finding: No matter where they are from, who they are, their economic circumstances or educational backgrounds, significant majorities of Black Americans say being Black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves, with about three-quarters (76%) overall saying so.