In my previous three columns I laid out what message I believe our area of the country – “The epicenter of the political earthquake” – sent the rest of the country and the world in the November elections. The first message was to “Please stop treating us like we’re failures, and if we were only just a bit more successful and educated we’d all live in cities.” The second was to “Stop talking to us about income inequality.” The third was “Stop talking to us non-stop about climate change” Here’s the fourth:
Please stop constantly lecturing us about race and identity politics. We’ve heard more than a few race-obsessed pundits on TV decry these election results as a “whitelash” and some kind of pivot back to a more racist America, based solely on the fact that middle and working class white voters in the Rust Belt played such a huge roll in the outcome. We completely reject this characterization and are offended by it. Let me give an entirely different interpretation of what this election meant in terms of race. It was a call for a pivot away from “race consciousness” altogether. I’m going to convey some things here that some might find uncomfortable. In order for us to really have an honest discussion about race, we’re going to have face some ugly truths about ourselves. Are you ready? The paragraph above is how just about every discussion on race, and more often than not “white privilege” begins, under the guise that it actually is a point-counterpoint discussion. It never is. It’s always a lecture: “This is how you need to think about race, people. You need to be conscious of it. You need to be aware of it. Also if you’re not a person of color, you better damn well realize how privileged you are all the time.” People don’t like being lectured to, which is one of the reasons so many find political correctness so unappealing (yes, the election was a rejection of that too, make no mistake). So, how about this for a message regarding race obsession, identity politics and political correctness in general: Enough. Let’s try something different. Look, the desire to connect with fellow human beings is the most natural thing I believe we all share, instinctively. And the most basic way to connect with someone is to find something in common with them. “Race consciousness” and “identity politics” does the exact opposite of this. A woman named Natasha Howell posted the following on Facebook shortly after the Dallas shootings: “So this morning I went into a convenient store to get a protein bar. As I walked through the door, I noticed that there were two white police officers (one about my age the other several years older) talking to the clerk (an older white women) behind the counter about the shootings that have gone on in the past few days. They all looked at me and fell silent. I went about my business to get what I was looking for, as I turned back up the aisle to go pay, the oldest officer was standing at the top of the aisle watching me. As I got closer he asked me, ‘How I was doing?’ I replied, ‘Okay, and you?’ He looked at me with a strange look and asked me, ‘How are you really doing?’ I looked at him and said ‘I’m tired!’ His reply was, ‘me too.’ Then he said, ‘I guess it’s not easy being either of us right now is it.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not.’ Then he hugged me and I cried. I had never seen that man before in my life. I have no idea why he was moved to talk to me. What I do know is that he and I shared a moment this morning, that was absolutely beautiful. No judgments, No justifications, just two people sharing a moment.”  We need more of this. So, to answer the question posed in the first paragraph: Can we have an honest discussion about race and identity politics and “white privilege?” My answer: Perhaps having the discussion itself is a bad idea because it achieves no positive ends, only negative ones, for everyone. Maybe we try the opposite of what we’re doing right now, which I think we can all agree is not working (Unless you believe race relations have gotten better recently?). Maybe we at least attempt to move away from categorizing people based on their skin color and instead focus on, I don’t know… their actions? Their behavior? The content of their character? Their words, deeds and accomplishments? Maybe we stop treating “colorblindness” as a dirty word? Maybe, just maybe, Morgan Freeman was on to something when he told Mike Wallace in an interview on 60 minutes years ago, when asked how we’re going to get rid of racism: FREEMAN: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man. And I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You’re not going to say, “I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.” Hear what I’m saying? Rather than “searching deep” for those “ugly truths about ourselves,” (that we all hold latent if not blatant racist thoughts) maybe we search instead for good things within us, for righteous things? Are we able to even entertain the possibility that these “ugly truths” we are constantly being told we hold here were maybe never there to begin with? Here ends Part 4. In the final installment, Part 5, we’ll wrap it all up with: Stop assuming the worst about us. Happy New Year!
 Michael Koolidge hosts the regionally syndicated radio program The Michael Koolidge Show (www.koolidge.com) heard daily on radio stations statewide, including Rockford’s 1440 WROK from 9 to 11 a.m. live every weekday morning. Public officials and citizens can reach the show anytime at radio@koolidge.com or 815-561-7130.