The Delicate Matter of Race Relations

Let me start by saying I'm a middle class white male. I have rarely felt the upstream battle of being a minority. My parents did not raise a bigoted household. My best friend for most of my youth was a minority named Anthony Parker... We played together. We went to school together. I slept over his house, he slept over mine. At one point I asked my mother why I couldn't get a tan "like Tony." That was the first time I had to understand that God makes our pigments different.

The impact of Katrina and the events in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have highlighted both the highs and lows of mankind. In hours of distress, we either buckle or we overcome, we either panic or we resolve. In the wake of this natural tragedy, I am deeply saddened by how quickly this "act of God" became a political and race issue. I find any tie of racism or bigotry in response of governmental assistance to the victims to be completely outlandish. ALL races were impacted by this disaster and ALL races have done their best to assist in one way or another.

What did race have to do with the complete lack of planning by the Mayor of New Orleans? Or the Govenor of Louisiana? What did race have to do with the bureaucratic delays causing FEMA and the National Guard to show up 24 hours later than they should? How does any of this means that "George Bush doesn't like black people?" I think Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell may beg to differ. And why would anyone equate the wrath of Mother Nature to race in the first place?

Should the Asian communities in Mississippi feel that they are being discriminated against because the African Americans in New Orleans are getting all of the press and assistance? How should the Latin communities in Alabama react?

The issue of racism and bigotry was initially created by ignorance and is still fueled today by further ignorance. In the end, I believe the only way we can, as a country, overcome racism and bigotry is two fold. First, we all need to have our foundation built upon the same moral compass of what is right and wrong. Secondly, we need to be personally accountable against those universal moral ideals. Only then can we all move toward a single point of racial liberation. Only then can we change this deep seeded problem, one person at a time.

Unfortunately, in a world where everyone's morality is open for acceptance, I find this goal too lofty to achieve.