And the same time, screaming PC is often used as cover for vileness.
There’s one black man living in my little town and he tells me some of the damaging things conservatives are doing and he is a conservative from Detroit.
The lack of tact is killing us. Truth is fine but there are ways of telling the truth that don’t immediately set up an adversarial conversation. Its like when we speak of Detroit, somebody immediately declares them to be liberal democrats when that isn’t quite factual. The reality is that the politicians are simply corrupt and would be corrupt no matter what party or race they were. The people themselves aren’t liberal, they’re apathetic and without hope.
Then there is the matter of who we speak with and how we do it. My neighbor suggests taking the faith and family message to elderly blacks who are most receptive of it and pass it on. He also suggests being the bigger man and ignoring the verbal racism that comes from blacks.
Next week at my neighbor’s I’m meeting with a Detroit pastor (and his mother) who wants to know what it was like to grow up poor, rural, and white. He wants to work on a series of sermons about our similarities outside of race. The pastor also wants to talk to my neighbor about how much things have changed for he and his family since leaving the city.
People can call it pandering all they want but I’ve got nothing to give but respect.