Your humble blogger went to see Fruitvale Station last week, and while I haven't written about it here, suffice to say that it's a moving and unsettling film that deserves to be widely seen. Now, a lot of folks have pointed to it (in light of the Zimmerman trial) as a possible touchstone that we should employ to initiate a dialogue on the subject of race relations in America: Specifically, to address the misconceptions that many white folks have about African-Americans, and while that's certainly a valid topic of discussion, it's only half of the problem at most. The bigger problem, to my mind, lies in the misconceptions that a lot of white people have about themselves, i.e., that they're the high moral compass of the Republic when a lot of them are just a bunch of self-indulgent assholes.
Now, I'm not sure how we exactly frame the debate to engage more white folks in it, but one possible approach lies in emphasizing Fruitvale's overarching message: Namely, that it's impossible to reach a greater understanding of other people, and to clear up misconceptions we may have about them, if we're not willing to talk to them honestly---and most importantly, to be willing to listen to them, even if what they're saying discomfits us. Because if we don't engage in this kind of two-way discussion, and we reach a point where people on both sides of aisle are just shouting over everyone else's heads and nobody is listening at all, well, that's incubating a social climate where simple misunderstandings can become tragic misunderstandings.
---Baron V
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