Missing the Mark

I really don’t know what to say. I’m going to provide you with non-verbal cues instead.

eye-rolling

heavy sighing

turning of head to one side, gazing off into space

Why the theatrics? Because I read the Pasadena Star-News. In today’s print edition, we have Larry Wilson calling for a dialogue about race:

“I’m not saying it would be a comfortable conversation. That’s one reason to have it. There’s a chasm between upper-caste whites for whom it’s a complete surprise that there are black preachers who accuse from the pulpit the government of “inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color” and African-Americans for whom it’s no surprise.

Let’s talk.”

There is a universe of possible starting places to talk about racial tension in Pasadena. This is not one of them.

It strikes me as inordinately disrespectful that Wilson would use this example to encourage dialogue. I have difficulty believing that the majority of African-American pastors in Pasadena (or anywhere else) routinely preach on the HIV conspiracy theory. Just who is Wilson quoting, anyway? Oh, he’s quoting Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Examining our own prejudices, stereotypes and assumptions is step one. And in this town, any call for a dialogue about race needs to include more than just “upper-caste” whites and African-Americans.