tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post4268982989646390976..comments2024-01-26T03:26:54.060-05:00Comments on O-pinion: What's in the ground on race, ethnicity?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-80905745827142543632008-04-01T11:09:00.000-04:002008-04-01T11:09:00.000-04:00It seems to me that several organizations have cla...It seems to me that several organizations have claimed to be working for years on the issue of trust, yet the Nick Mackey situation revealed that all of the meetings, coalitions, and fancy gatherings have accomplished very little. Having attended a good many of these affairs I would suggest that they may have done more harm than good. Most of them have been predicated on the idea that our community is "unfair and unjust" and they have catered to the idea that many of our woes have been caused by "white privilege". Little is ever said about personal responsibility; nor have these groups been willing to consider varying viewpoints on issues such as education. <BR/><BR/>Many of the white participants and leaders attend inner ring churches whose congregations live in wealthy neighborhoods and predominately send their children to private schools--apparently they assuage their "guilt" by trying to make suburbanites feel guilty as well.<BR/><BR/>At the Crossroads gathering I attended a year or so ago, at differing points during the presentation the persons sitting on either side of me each leaned over and whispered to me "All I'm hearing is divide, divide, divide." The woman on my right was African American, the man on my left had an hispanic surname, although I suspect he preferred to think of himself as just plain American.<BR/><BR/>I believe that by excusing bad behavior, attempting to place blame on past injustices, and catering to the "you owe me something" industry those who say they are working towards "trust" have actually created more polarization within our community.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com