Resources to explain our Racial Divide

I recently retired from my job in higher education and the local community media interviewed me. They asked me a couple of questions that are relevant to the national crisis we see unfolding in this country.

 Q: Dr. Taylor, what books would you currently recommend that people read to explain our racial divide, understanding that your recommendation could change next year or in 5-years?

 A: Two books immediately come to mind: White Rage by Dr. Carol Anderson and The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. I used to tell my students that nearly every racial disparity that currently exists in the U.S. has historical roots, and if we understand that history and help others come to grips with that history, that institutional change may be possible. White Rage provides a riveting historical backdrop that reframes the conversation about race in a way that’s difficult to dismiss. It provides an easy to read account from the end of the Civil War to almost predicting why someone like Trump was inevitable. It does one of the best jobs that I’ve seen in chronicling the powerful forces that have always been opposed to Black progress in this country. As a nation we’re still haunted by the legacy of slavery. Because that history has never been reconciled each generation continues the oppression while the root causes go unexamined. I think that once we understand the historical causes, then we can begin to craft remedies that provide relief for all of us.

The Color of Law explains in vivid detail how and why nearly every major metropolitan area in America is segregated by race. It identifies scores of laws: local, state and federal that were used to create urban ghettos surrounded by white suburbs. It points out in heartbreaking clarity how city after city and state after state intentionally supported segregation whether in the north, south, east or west. After reading this book, you’ll have a better understanding of our racial divide. This book-just released this year- couldn’t be timelier. It argues that this forced segregation was and is unconstitutional and offers some bold remedies that this country should consider.

I think both of these books are must-reads.

I know this may sound self-serving but to help schools and colleges start a dialogue around racial issues, I’ve written a novel Lakeside University Cover Up. It’s about a cross burning that takes place on a college campus and how the administration and students respond to such a personal act of hate. Faculty often have difficulty in getting students to open up about uncomfortable issues like racism and discrimination on campus. Lakeside University Cover Up makes addressing those issues less difficult because it’s relevant to students’ own experiences on campus. Students not only connect with the characters–they become emotionally engaged with the plot. The novel is a mystery-thriller and few people are prepared for the ending when they find out the real reason why the cross was burned. The novel is used in college classrooms here and in Canada. Faculty tell me that the novel helps to stimulate discussions on how to create a campus climate of inclusion for all students.

Q: How have you been transformed or changed by the work you've accomplished to help educational institutions become more diverse?

 A: My work in higher education feels less like a transformation, and perhaps more like a realization of the power of institutional inequity that won’t be eradicated in my lifetime. Although my generation helped move the needle, unfortunately we too must pass on the unfinished business of racial inequality to our children and their allies. Because of the young leadership that is emerging on our college campuses, I am confident that they will continue working to ensure that our institutions serve all of us fairly someday.

I had anticipated that my son would sit under the shade of equality in this country but now I’m not so sure that even my grandson will be able to do so in his lifetime. That means we have to find ways to restore hope and to rekindle a commitment to social justice that includes all of us. Our shared humanity requires nothing less.

All summer I've been working on a short film about a new virtual Urban Center in Milwaukee that is bringing church and community leaders together to address some of the systemic issues facing that city. Most of the problems they are attempting to address are identified in the two books I recommended above. This new Center gives me hope. When you get a chance, take a look at the film: https://bit.ly/2wymaPv