To heal America’s racism, communities must address it

Not since the eve of the Civil War has America been as polarized as it is today. Yes, there have been other moments of severe division in our nation — in 1968, for example, anti-vietnam war protests, the Black Power movement, women’s liberation, gay rights activism, and angry “middle-americans” testified to

William H. Chafe is the Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History, emeritus, at Duke University, and a member of a working group dedicated to creating Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commissions throughout the country.

the degree of fragmentation in the country. But today’s division is more fundamental and severe. We cannot survive without confronting this polarization — and if possible, finding a way of overcoming it with a new affirmation of the values that unite us.

Race, class and gender have been at the heart of what divides us. Since 1619, racism has been fundamental in tearing us apart. Whether it be slavery, the system of Jim Crow segregation, or the ongoing devaluation of Black lives (Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd), attitudes toward race have shaped our national economy, behavior and ethics. While many white Americans believe that they solved the issue of racial injustice with the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s and the election of Barack Obama, racism remains a central reality of American life.

Class has been a central component of racial inequality. People of color are disproportionately represented in the ranks of the poor. Throughout our history,

Black Americans have systemically been denied access to the wealth they helped to create. Even during periods of economic prosperity — World War II through the 1970s — Black Americans have lagged behind whites in the gains they have achieved. Even with continued growth in the ranks of the college-educated, Black Americans have failed to match the incomes of whites. In 2015, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston estimated that the average net worth of Boston’s Black families was $8, while that of whites was $247,000.

In all of this, the lingering impact of racism on our culture has become ever more powerful. We need to name the problem, explore the way it infiltrates our lives, talk to each other about it, and — together — find a course of action that will move to eliminate it.

The people of South Africa provided one example of how to do this. Backed by President Nelson Mandela, and championed by civic leaders like Dr. Alex Boraine and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa implemented a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Throughout the country, whites who had oppressed Black Africans, and Blacks who had experienced that oppression, engaged with each other. Africans on both sides of the racial divide confronted their histories and opened the door for resolving injustices. While there was inadequate follow-through and rampant inequality persists in South Africa, the TRC sessions at least offered a starting point for confronting the pervasive history of racial inequality.

Nothing is more needed in America today than a series of similar conversations throughout the country. One such effort occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina — the birthplace of the Black student sit-in movement — where a coalition of American Nazi and Ku Klux Klan members attacked and murdered five labor and community organizers, while terrorizing countless others, in 1979 as they prepared to participate in an antiKlan march. That truth commission, inaugurated by the Rev. Nelson Johnson and his wife, Joyce, eventually produced positive results as Blacks, whites and Latinx built powerful and enduring alliances, and together, won impressive community and labor victories. Now, after nearly 41 years, the city of Greensboro has finally apologized, acknowledging that some city officials and Greensboro police knew in advance of the planned attack by Klansmen and Nazis, but failed to protect the marchers and the community.

Putting racial injustice on the table is the first and indispensable step toward coming to grips with how profound race and class inequality have persisted throughout our country’s history. If we can begin honest conversations with each other, and confront the institutions that have made racial oppression happen, we can take the first step toward creating a society committed to justice and equality. Only when we fully acknowledge the sins of our past will there be any possibility of creating a better future.