The AFRO
August 2009
Urban League "State of Black America"
Say Notion of a Post-Racial America is a Myth
By Zenitha Prince
Washington Bureau Chief
CHICAGO (July 30) – Despite the overwhelming election of President Barack Obama, the inherent prejudice against people of color remains alive and well in American society, said a panel of Black intellectuals, critics and activists today."This whole notion of a post-racial society is ridiculous, we need to stop saying it, we need to stop even talking about it," said BET's Jeff Johnson. "Let's be honest about the fact that many of us from all races are racist…. We've lied about progress."The statement was part of an assessment of the "State of Black America," an annual conversation held at the yearly convention of the National Urban League, which produces a report of the same name.Johnson's statement emerged out of a conversation that revolved around – you guessed it – beer.Even here at the Urban League, the media's binge on the Thursday tête-à-tête between President Barack Obama, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge, Mass. Police Sgt. James Crowley to discuss the officer's arrest of Gates in his own home and the president's resulting criticism continued.But unlike some in the media who saw the meeting as a significant step forward in resolving the issue of racial profiling and the underlying prejudice, many on the panel thought it was a mostly empty gesture."It is a significant brouhaha [but] I'm not sure it gets to what 'ales' (ails) us," commented George Washington University professor Michael Eric Dyson. "The real problem is still on the streets where disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino men and women are subjected to arbitrary forms of police power."Johnson agreed in even starker terms."I'm offended by the discussion at the White House," the political commentator said, "because if they were serious about solving this problem, Gates would be there, Crowley would be there, but so would Tyrone and Shaniqua and other young people who have dealt with this kind of psychosis from the police; they are not represented in this conversation."
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