Political Correctness: Between Denial & Disclosure

This is about the United States and if we have the maturity to talk about serious things in a serious and honest manner. The early evidence is that we don't. We are busy trying not to offend. We are distracted from real issues by equating, falsely in my view, discomfort, phobia and bigotry.

We are arguing about the propriety of admitting that we all profile, instead of working to come to terms with our instincts and fears. Oh, you don't profile? Well when someone comes to date one of my granddaughters you can bet I'll be looking a class, dress, language, IQ and resume. When I see a white skinhead, you know my gut is tightening. When I get a flat in certain neighborhoods, my blood pressure is tied to my perception of the socioeconomic profile of the area. Yes, I know Bill Cosby's son was murdered in Bell Air. Still, we all do actuarial calculations. They might just be wrong. But it is always wrong to deny that we do them.

Juan Williams confessed, not bragged, that he felt discomfort when seeing people in Muslim garb at airports--it triggering memories of 9-11. I felt the same prejudiced impulse when I flew on 9-11 two years after the attack. I dealt with the impulse not with denial but by confronting it and working through it. My admission of my momentary fears was not a slur on Muslims but a recognition of my own prejudice. And, by the way, I have lots of prejudices--and I fight them. But to fight them I have to call them out of hiding.

Juan Williams and I are products of inter-racial dialogues where the starting point was admitting that we carried uncomfortable feelings and fears. We were encouraged to do a frank inventory of our selves, find our demons and call them out. This, apparently, is no longer permitted.

Therapeutically, we cannot heal what we cannot talk about. If we only pretend to happy and politically correct thoughts, we will find neither truth nor reconciliation. We must admit that we have problems in this country around race, religion and ethnicity. When we pretend to equanimity, it is like going to a marriage counselor and saying, "Oh, no, we don't have any problems. I love everything he/she does."