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?