cp90

Wow.

I've gotten a lot of e-mail tonight about my last post, and it's made me think a lot about what I said.

I'm not kidding about the racial issues - the white privilege issues - that exist in this city.

But I think I was a little harsh on the efforts that are being made on behalf of meeting halfway. There *are* some people who are working hard to make a difference. It's just that until that difference can be manifested in even a vocal minority, there isn't going to be change... And until more people in pulpits and congregations and board rooms and school rooms REALLY teach tolerance and love - and disengage from this whole idea of privilege - there is no hope of that succeeding. NONE.

But nobody - at least *very* few whites in this town - seem to want to look inward to deal with those snap judgments ... The same ones that seal fates all over the South. Those that say separation is better, that private schools are better than public schools, that discomfort in mixed social and religions situations is ok. I want to see DELIBERATE action. Real, positive, assertive, gentle action - the same kind of direct action King and Gandhi talked about - to look inside and remake this city, this region and this nation.

I *do* see some of that happening - don't get me wrong - and I see it the best of it in higher education. Unfortunately, the people who graduate University.. Black, white, Asian, African, Hispanic, European... Are not as likely to stick around here - the atmosphere is just so toxic that people really want to leave once they have opportunity. The best and the brightest tend to be lured away... And those who stay get beaten down by the constant... Well, the constant inability of good folks to stand up year after year, decade after decade, to the racism and the privilege.

I have lived here for 15 years ... And I am just... Tired of it. The Gandhi/King conference is coming and I want so much to take part in it... But I am so discouraged. Maybe it's all the talk right now that Memphis is such a "progressive" or "liberal" city in such a conservative state. No, I am sorry. I have lived in progressive, liberal cities - and this one is not one of them.

I'll continue to try - don't get me wrong. But you can bet that I will seek other opportunities in other places if they come my way.

And the city wonders why the tax base is just... Floating away.

Get real already.

cp90, cp9 palette, cp9 industriepalette, cp9.