Blackface discussion shows how far we’ve come

You might feel embarrassed for anyone born in the United States and over the age of 30 who would display as much innocence — or should I say ignorance? — regarding the practice of blackface in America as Megyn Kelly recently did on her NBC television show. On the other hand, the instant and powerful condemnation she incurred, like a healthy immune response, signifies that all is not lost in the body politic.

Condemning Kelly’s ignorance — or feigned ignorance — of why blackface offends black people suggests how far Americans have come over the past 50 years in learning to accept all Americans as equally sharing the same national identity. This is amazing when you think about it — people of different ethnic backgrounds upholding the same values enshrined in the same constitution.

Look at ethnic groups in other parts of the world and, all too often, bloody conflict appears. Russians and Ukrainians. Serbs and Bosnian Muslims. Sunnis and Shiites of the Middle East. Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Myanmar’s Rohingyas. Rwanda’s Hutus and Tutsis. Sri Lanka’s Tamils and Sinhalese. Tibetans and Chinese.

If there is anywhere in the world where people of different ethnicities get along better than they generally do in America, I admit my ignorance of it. My hope is that we Americans keep our disagreements civil and never forget what a singular treasure we have.

— Michael W. Drwiega, Wilmette