C. Wright slowly turned his head
and his gaze
away from me for a moment.

 

It appeared as if he was going to give me a break. But when he looked back at me, with the stare of an assassin, I knew it wasn’t a reprieve. He wasn’t letting me off the hook. He was about to unleash something that, in my heart, I had been running from for what seemed like forever. And I wasn’t ready to hear it. But I could do nothing to stop what he was about to say. He drew closer, and in a tone just above a whisper he said, “They don’t take us seriously.”

“I know that!” I replied.

“But here’s what you don’t know,” C. Wright continued.

 

“What?” I said, holding my breath.

“Are you familiar with the work of the late Derrick Bell?” he asked.

“Wasn’t he a lawyer or something?” I asked.

“Yes, he was one of our great legal scholars,” said C. Wright. “But,” he continued, “Bell was also a former NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyer in addition to being an author. One of his best known books was entitled, Faces At The Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. 

I acknowledge that I wasn’t familiar with him and had not read any of his works. But that didn’t really seem to matter to C. Wright as he continued. 

“This is what Bell concluded on the matter of racism,” he said. “Bell came to the decisive conclusion that racism is permanent particularly in the United States of America. I think it’s the case globally.”

“You mean he gave up on the idea of eradicating racism,” I asked.

“In general, yes,” C. Wright responded.

I thought about that for a second or two and pondered what it would mean if this was, in fact, the case. 

“Why? What lead him to that conclusion,” I asked skeptically but intrigued by this idea.

“It’s like this,” said Will C. “As long as the majority of whites believe that we blacks will benefit from the eradication of racism, they won’t let it go. In other words, if the elimination of racism gives us an advantage and puts them at a disadvantage, racism will stay in place.” 

“That sounds like they know that racism helps keep us down and allows them to stay in power,” I said.

“Yes, that’s exactly the case,” Will C., replied.

“But that seems absurd like an irrational fear on their part,” I said.

“Not only is it irrational,” Will C. continued, “but it is a fear that can easily be stoked to the point of whites acting out those fears in violent and legislative ways. Any hint of social reforms that seem to give us an unjust benefit, as they see it, will not be supported by them.”

“Hmmmm…I said,” that’s an angle I had not expected nor considered before. So that seems to say that

Whites are afraid of competing with us on a level playing field.”

 

“Exactly!” C. Wright said, excited that I was beginning to see what he meant. This is why any talk of equality and fair voting for black people, any talk of reforming the educational system, any talk of equitable or free healthcare for all, or fair employment and housing practices are met with great opposition.”  C. Wright pause for a moment.

I urged him to continue because this was really beginning to make sense.

“Let me give you some concrete examples,” he said. “Let’s take education. Could you imagine what it would be like if everyone received a quality education in this country? It would dramatically increase the number of black people qualified to compete against whites for jobs, loans, and business start ups.

“What if that education was free?” I chimed in, seeing his point. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Imagine what it would be like if our young people could go to college without being burdened with enormous student loans that often take decades to repay?”

“That would be a game changer,” I said.

“Of course it would,” he confirmed. Now add free, or extremely affordable, health care to that equation. You would have a healthy, well educated black population, without the burden of oppressive student loans sapping most of their income.”

“So, as I understand it,” I began, “Bell understood that as long as white people believe that any advantages…”

“Remember, unfair advantages,” C. Wright corrected me.

“Okay, as long a they believe we might receive unfair advantages,

Racism is permanent.

 

“Yep, in a nutshell,” he quipped.

“Man, that’s earth-shattering!” I exclaimed. “So what about the efforts to create more diversity and equality,” I asked.

“A sham,” C. Wright,” responded. “Nothing be a sham. It’s like the game of kicking the can down the road. Nothing long-term will come from it. Sure they will pass laws and say flowery words that make it sound and look as if things are changing. But they don’t. It may last for a few years or so, but they will eventually strip them away.” 

“And the next generation comes along and has to fight the same battle all over again,” I finished his thought. 

“Precisely,” he agreed. “And you need look no further than history to find the proof.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Take the issue of Civil rights. After the American Civil War in the 1860s, our enslaved ancestors, having been set free, were given citizenship which brings with it civil rights. One hundred years later in the 1960s, we were again fighting for civil rights which were granted again with the Civil Rights Bill. In the early 2000s until now, we find ourselves fighting to regain or maintain civil rights.”

“Wow, I see that point clearly knowing a little something about history,” I said. “But let me ask you this, and we will have to finish up. It’s more out curiosity on my part. How did our people respond to Derrick Bell’s book and the position he took on this matter?’

“For the most part, they disregarded his message. The book was considered controversial and his message went unheeded, said C. Wright. 

“Why do you think that was the case?” I wondered.

“They ignored his message because our people were hell-bent on believing that things were changing and that racism had become a thing of the past. They believe the same thing today, you know,” he said, as part statement and part question at the same time.

“Are you asking me if they believe the same thing today?” 

“I’m making the statement that they still believe that today and I’m asking if you know that?” he replied.

“Well,” I said, “until this conversation, I have to admit, I believed that racism was being addressed and that change was on the horizon. Now, I’m not so sure. You’ve given me a lot of food for thought,” C. Wright.

“Good,” he said.

“This has been an insightful conversation and I certainly appreciate your time, candor, and insights. Do you suppose we might be able to have more conversation like this?” I asked hoping he would say yes.

“Certainly,” he said. “I always enjoy these kind of exchanges because I don’t get to engage in them as often as I’d like. And I want to hear your thoughts on some issues because you’re not as dumb as you look,” he joked. At least I hope that was the case. 

In any event, as we both laughed. C. Wright continued in seriousness, “I welcome more conversations with you but, be warned, you and those in your audience might not like what I have to say.

I thanked C. Wright again and promised we would have more of these conversations.