Can We Just Start from There?
Back in May of 1996, I attended a conference in Greensboro to discuss racial relations, the ways in which people, black and white, relate- or don't relate- to one another, and how this could be improved. I do not recall the name of the church which hosted this all-day meeting, but I do recall very well some of the feelings I had, both during and afterward, as I listened to the voices of some very angry black sisters and brothers talking about the special problems faced by those in the black community which we white people never face. At one point, late in the afternoon, I went to the micro- phone to share my frustration with the assembly, saying- haltingly and with deep emotion- "I don't know what it is like to be black, but I hope you will believe that I am trying to understand, trying to be part of a solution, trying to be part of building a better community for all of us"...or something like that. The exact words elude me all these years later, but ...