Jarvis Hall

By now we all know that last week Senator Baraka Obama, Democratic Presidential candidate, gave a speech about race in America that generally has been acknowledged as masterful and eloquent, and from a political perspective, necessary.

Not surprisingly given his skill as an orator, by all accounts, including my own, he pulled it off.

But the larger question remains: Why do we have only periodic eruptions about race as opposed to having a real ongoing approach to the persistence of race in the United States?

Unquestionably, Sen-ator Obama’s campaign is historic.

However, what has been missing from this Presidential campaign and American political discourse in general is a real discussion about the continued significance of race in this country.

To the contrary, however, many have hailed that Obama’s success at this point is a glaring indication that we have finally overcome race and that America has reached its colorblind ideal.

Therefore, if we act on our colorblindness, for example by not talking about race or by voting for an African American candidate for president, then somehow race will go away.

Well taking such an approach at this point in our history will only guarantee that it will not.

As Senator Obama pointed our in his speech, too many of the quality of life disparities that continue to haunt America and hinder the progress of African Americans and other racial minorities are rooted in the historical and contemporary impact of race.

Disparities in education, health care, income, wealth accumulation, etc. reflect the enduring prevalence of white privilege.

For example, the resegregation of our public schools is a process that has been taking place for years.

The result has been a two tier educational system in this country, especially here in North Carolina.

The only way we can address this problem is by talking forthrightly about race. The point is we must be honest about race in this country.

The concept of white privilege is a controversial one but one that must be addressed in discourse and policy.

Without such an approach, too many problems in American cannot be really solved.

Hopefully, Senator Obama’s speech will be the beginning of this process, not the end.