Greensboro News & Record
Robert D. Benson, President and Publisher
JOhn R. Alexander, Editorial Page Editor
Ben J. Bowers, v,
Ned Cline, Managir
Friday, December 18,1987
A16
A time to reflect on racial issues
By CHARLES W. FAIRLEY
Greensboro has again been selected as the
city for a supremacist group to march.
Greensboro is just like many other communities, with citizens who support the attitude of the marchers. Some feel that it
should go elsewhere, that the march will
tarnish the "good racial ~~
attitudes" that exist
here. Some are afraid
that there will be another incident similar
to the one that occurred on Nov. 3,1979.
All of these attitudes
have some validity.
Maybe it is a good
thing that the march
will take place here. It
allows us to take another look at ourselves. Fairley
Maybe we will learn something that will aid
us in making some meaningful improvement
in our relationship with each other.
I must ask each citizen: What have you,
individually, done since that last march to
improve racial attitudes? Yes, we met to
discuss the problems. We attended a concert in the park to demonstrate racial harmony. Eight hundred persons participated
in a counter march to show our dissatisfaction with the marchers.
We told each other that the group that
marched for the cause of racial superiority
did not portray the racial attitudes of
Greensboro's citizens. We felt relieved. We
returned to our communities to wait for the
next time when there would be a need for us
to come together. We had a smile on our
faces and little sincerity in our hearts to say
' i, "Oh, we are not like those outsiders
The writer is a member of the Greensboro
Visions Task Force on Housing. The column
was written prior to the publication of the
News & Record series on race relations.
who invade our community because we are a
soft touch."
Can you imagine the time when a racist
group of any color could obtain a march
permit and not attract attention in Greensboro, not even that of the Police Department? In order for you to visualize that day,
please answer the following questions:
How long has it been since you heard a
minister, rabbi or priest talk about social
justice, when not related to a current event?
How long has it been since you heard or
read of a local political leader speaking out
against racism, not attempting to just explain it away?
How many persons of another race would
feel comfortable visiting in your home, when
not there to work on a specific task?
How many persons of another race would
you feel comfortable to visit in their home,
without a prior notice of the pending visit?
How many persons of another race would
you invite to your home for a social event?
Would you be pleased to have your work
supervised by a member of another race?
Do you sometimes feel that you receive
preferential treatment when your racial
group is in the minority, or does someone
always come to you to say "we are so glad
you are here? We wish we could find others
like you."
Do the youth in your home talk with
youth of another race on an equal basis?
When was the last time you were invited
to go shopping with a member of another
race?
Have you ever attended a sports event
with another racial member?
j What is your position on school merger?
Can you explain your position to a member
of your race without relating your position
to school busing or pupil assignment?
How many non-minorities do you know
who reside in a neighborhood which is largely occupied by minorities?
How many periodicals published by mem
bers of another race do you subscribe to and
read?
I serve on many commissions, task forces,
boards and committees. Frequently, someone will say to me, "I'm so glad I am on this
group. It has given me the opportunity to
meet and know you." Yet, unless I initiate a
relationship, I don't hear from or speak to
that person until the next time there is an
official meeting.
When I see them in a shopping center, on
the street, or in a restaurant, our eyes
cross. Somehow I get the impression that
they do not wish for their guest to recognize
that we know each other. As the saying
goes: "We will call you when we need you,
but don't you bother to call us."
Again, the march may be doing us a favor. Maybe it will force us to honestly, and
without fear, listen to each other. We know
what should be done, but we are afraid to do
it. We know what should be said but we are
afraid to say it. We know what should be
written but we are afraid to write it. We
want to always do, write and say the acceptable things. For Greensboro someone must
break with the traditional paths of yesterday.
When conditions like the ones I have described are changed, then all racist groups
will know that Greensboro knows how to
deal with their attitudes. We will be too
busy "doing our thing" to even know that
they are in town. Even the police will pay
the same attention to their parade as the
police now pay to a funeral procession. Provide one police escort vehicle and pray that
the deceased find eternal peace. Then go on
with our agenda of making Greensboro "the
place we dream." Until then, let us use our
Lnagination and find creative methods to
say, "Greensboro is different."
I dream of the day when Greensboro will
be different. A place where there will be
"Peace on earth and good will toward all
