Looking to Bridge the Racial Gap

About seven weeks ago, I found myself with 200 words of blank space at the end of my column. As my deadline approached, I used that space to comment on the unbalanced racial situation in one of my history classes.

Specifically, I was concerned about the lack of black students in my Civil War class, which has about 100 students but only one black student.

My intent in mentioning my class was to point out the growing trend in America towards racial self-division, and to offer a few conjectures as to the possible sources of the problem.

Increasingly in recent years, blacks and whites have moved in subtle ways to isolate themselves from each other.

In the college classroom, this tendency now threatens to create a system of de facto segregation, as many black students choose classes that emphasize black history while most white students select "traditional" courses.

More importantly, the growth of racial self-division in recent years has made it more difficult for black and white Americans to trust and understand each other. This lack of trust inhibits our ability to live and breathe together as one people - an American people - even as we cherish the diversity of heritage that makes America unique.

Because I am extremely concerned that racial self-division will have dire consequences in coming years, I was hopeful that my comments would prompt readers to think seriously about the issue.

Unfortunately, the way in which I made my remarks might have accomplished the opposite of what I intended. Some of my comments were insensitively worded and vaguely argued, and I found myself surprised and saddened that many black students at UNC had been hurt and offended by them.

Specifically, many readers were bothered by my reference to African-American Studies 40 as a "lightweight" course - they felt that I was suggesting that black history is somehow inherently less challenging than traditional history classes. This was not my intent. For the record, I believe strongly that the history of African-Americans is an integral and important part of American history, and that the accomplishments of blacks are worthy of study in their own right.

I also believe that such study should not be confined to a specific department of African studies. My concern with African American Studies 40 and similar classes is that they can serve as an excuse to trivialize the history of African-Americans, and to separate it from the larger study of our common American history and culture. The reasoning is: "We'll just teach the basic white stuff here in American History, since black history is covered in AFAM 40."

This reasoning creates a system in which only a small minority of (mostly black) students learn about black history - and in which academia fails to prompt meaningful dialogue between blacks and whites. Such division can only foster increased misunderstanding and decreased trust.

During the past seven weeks, I have been repeatedly informed that African American Studies 40 is a serious study of black history in America. I have no reason to doubt that this is the case, and I sincerely apologize to those who felt maligned by my earlier column.

The numerical and ideological division that I believe African American Studies 40 helps to breed is my true concern, and has been from the beginning.

"E Pluribus Unum" is a vital American creed: "out of many, one." America is based on the belief that different peoples can come together, give assent to our fundamental ideals (equality, freedom, inalienable rights) and become fully American - even while maintaining their individual cultural identities.

The continuing division between black and white Americans threatens this ideal because it creates a gap of understanding that prompts members of both races to view each other with suspicion.

Such distrust means that each ethnic group hesitates to embrace commonly held American ideals as the center of a shared political and cultural life. Thus, a distinctly American unity across racial boundaries becomes impossible.

The understanding gap wreaks havoc in a number of ways. For example:

Today, American whites have essentially declared racism a vanquished legacy of the past. They acknowledge that some individuals are still racists, but insist that racism is more a case of "how we were" than of "how we are."

Accordingly, many whites regard black complaints of continued racism as mere excuses and complaints and are offended and frightened both by expressions of black outrage and by government efforts to give black Americans preference in education and hiring.

Simultaneously, black Americans insist that white racism in America remains a powerful and destructive force.

Citing taxi-cab pass-overs and "driving while black" arrests, many black Americans believe that the evidence of overwhelming racism in America is so obvious that those who deny it are in fact themselves guilty of racism.

So who is right? The answer is that neither black nor white Americans are "seeing things" - both have an understandable grasp of the situation in America. (I'll look at racism next week.) But because of the gap in understanding, both blacks and whites distrust each other. The result is misdirected antagonism and missed opportunities.

Thanks to my readers, I have no doubt that African American Studies 40 is a difficult and valuable class. But the academic separation of black and white students (even done voluntarily) cannot possibly help to bridge the gap of understanding between blacks and whites in America.

Maybe now we can think together about what will.

Craig Warner is out of space. Write him at cmwarner@email.unc.edu.