A Better America is Possible
By Darryl L. Jones II
President Obama has often been denounced as the instigator of deteriorating race relations in America. Various polls conducted over the past year have shown that a solid majority of Americans believe that race relations, particularly those between black and white, are in a precarious state. With such an ominous view, how can Catholics assist in restoring this divide?
Studies have revealed that roughly 75 percent of white Americans lack non-white friends. Trivial and surface-level interactions with people of different races do not constitute friendship. Perhaps this fact aids in explaining the perception of deteriorating race relations. When meaningful interactions with people from dissimilar backgrounds are lacking, we have no firsthand account for understanding others.
When it comes to understanding different groups of people, many of us are guilty of epistemic closure, or the cessation of inquiry; we do not want to understand because we erroneously believe we already do. In a social sense, this means that we automatically reach conclusions about a person’s entire being once we are informed of their social role. How many of us have castigated, even if only internally, people with different political preferences once we are informed about said preferences?
Epistemic closure helps explain how people rationalized the murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown: they were black and had smoked marijuana. For many sectors of our population, no further inquiry was needed. Their deaths were justified based off these points alone. Similarly, it explains how people rationalize the murders of innocent police officers; by their mere association with law enforcement, their death is justified because the police (collectively) perpetrate the murders of innocent people. When we reach conclusions based off the social roles of others, we indict ourselves.
As we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., it is imperative that we acknowledge truths about his legacy and vision. Relations between blacks and whites have indeed improved. The social fabric of America has improved. There has never been an era in our society where life is better for the largest number of people than now. But there is still much to be done. Reactionary and maternal or paternalistic attitudes where we find ourselves speaking on behalf of groups of people we do not know intimately are counterproductive.
Many of us often experience cognitive dissonance and put into battle our faith against our political preferences. Oftentimes the two are incompatible and birth pernicious existential and spiritual ramifications. We must ask ourselves if we are first Christians or Republicans and Democrats.
The message of Christ is timeless and precedes organized politics. As we prepare for the presidential transition, let us use this time to reflect on the messages of inclusion taught by Christ and Dr. King, and strive for greater understanding and interaction in our public and private lives with those who are different from us. Let us reflect on how our views contribute to tension in our own homes, workplaces, communities, and the nation.
A better world is possible. A better America is possible, if we want it to be.
Darryl L. Jones II is the administrative program assistant in the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Main Campus.