What to say?

I have a problem.

I am an extraordinarily non-confrontational person. I cringe in the face of conflict. I just plain do not like it. However, I realize there are times when it is advisable, even necessary, to speak up - for myself, my children, or, in this case, against racism.

We were at a party the other night, and of course the conversation meandered to the President, as it often does these days.

As an aside, I find it odd that people who thought Barack Obama was "too black" to vote for him now consider him "too white" to rightfully identify himself as African-American.

Anywayyyy....the other guests were discussing the press coverage of the inauguration, and the fact that there were few white people shown on most of the network news shows.

"Were there any white people there at all?"

"Yes - they were called Security."

Now, I also noticed that there weren't too many white people showing up on TV. I knew they were there - a number of my (white) friends and family attended, and I'm sure they weren't the only ones. But I also recognize that this was a historic moment for African-Americans, many of whom lived in a time when they couldn't go to certain schools, drink from certain fountains, or sit in certain seats on a bus. They still suffer a great deal of discrimination, though it may not (or it may) be as blatant. They were, understandably, celebrating the ascent of a black man to the most powerful office in the world. People were emotional. It was newsworthy.

I hate that my kids saw me sit in a room where I heard someone said something like that and I did not respond. But honestly, I didn't know what to say. I've come to a place in my life where I recognize that most people who think that way often don't see anything wrong with it, as if it never even occurred to them that other people might have a different way of seeing it. Once I was in a cab and the driver told me that "the black people whose families were brought over as slaves were lucky - otherwise they'd still be over there living in huts and starving." If you are willing to put that out there to a complete stranger, and one who you hope will be giving you a tip in the near future, then you must think this is obvious and indisputable, like saying "we're taking the back way to the airport today".

So if I do say something, it is purely for my own and my children's benefit. Or maybe not....the more I make other people uncomfortable about saying things like that, then the more they may not say them. The less they get said, the less accepted they'll be. Maybe instead of coming at the words through changing people's thoughts, I can start to change their thoughts by forcing them to change their words. Maybe...at any rate, I'll have to figure out a comeback, because I'm sure I haven't heard the last of this.

Personally, I like Barack Obama for a lot of reasons. I recognize the historic significance of a man of his background being elected, but that's not why I like him. I think he is a peacemaker, and will make every effort to bring people together to make real change. This is a good problem to have, I think.