White Reactions to Race Discussions

I have had several discussions lately with groups of White people, mostly men, who have read at least parts of my newest book, “Growing Up White in the Heart of Memphis.” One local church has two weekly breakfast gatherings of men to discuss either a book of the Bible or a religious book of some kind. They had just finished Ephesians, and before going on to James, chose to discuss my book. Also, a local mostly Black church has started a small book club working on racial issues, starting with my book. And I tend to mention it whenever I think it is appropriate to do so. Thank you to those who thought it worthy of discussion.

Until these more recent experiences, the most usual reaction I have heard has been from people my age expressing that they had similar experiences to mine as they grew up. I have been a little surprised, though, by what I would call naivety of some of the more recent reactions from younger men. Some wanted to know why history is important. “Shouldn’t we just look to the future?” Some expressed dismay that the issues of Black/White relations were still being pushed. “Hasn’t this all been settled?” When the discussion turned to handouts to panhandlers, one man said, “You know what they will do with it.” And there was one fellow who when I brought up the book in a private conversation started speaking of all Black people as “them’ and “they.” “They do this; they won’t do that.” Maybe it is okay for me to call these reactions "naive" because I just published a book about how naive I have been over many years.

I tried to answer these reactions as best I could, as did others in the group discussions. And it occurred to me that, at least to a small extent, the book had accomplished one of its purposes: to encourage people to think about and discuss race issues in the church. People may not think like I do, but they are thinking.

I am reading a book now about why it is hard for White people to talk about race. I expect to have more to say about that as I read on. In the meantime, what do you think about the reaction I got from the group discussions?

What makes writers different from other people?

We met an interesting young woman last evening, a school employee who was fascinated with the game we were playing. It is a Scrabble rip off. Charlene invited her to sit with us and we talked a good while. Eventually the conversation turned to my books and I gave her one. She kept exclaiming that she had met a writer. What I didn’t tell her was what a writer had told me once long ago.

He asked if I knew what was different about writers that separates them from people who aren’t writers. Of course, I didn’t, so he told me. He said, “Writers write.” If you want to be a writer, you can. You just need to write. It can be in a diary with a pencil, in an old-fashioned notebook with a pen, on your laptop, or on your phone, but you need to write. What do you write, you ask? Whatever is on your heart, but write. Write something every day. You have a unique view of the world. You are different from everyone else. Write down what you see and what you think about it.

Or make up a story and write it down. Maybe it is a sentence today and 14 paragraphs tomorrow; but write. When you have something written down, then you can worry about editing it and decide whether you want to publish it.