The View From Up North: Tragedy In Ferguson, Missouri

On a day-to-day basis the American racial divide is still a canyon, broad and deep. How can we fix it?

In 2008, I exited a mall in South Carolina. I was there on vacation with my family. As I was exiting, I spotted a very elderly black gentleman walking slowly toward the doors. I waited and held the door for him. It took a few moments for him to shuffle up, but he finally made it through the portal and entered the mall. Another black gentleman, probably fifty years old, saw me hold the door. At the time, I was (and still am) a lily white, middle-aged man.

The younger black man actually walked over and thanked me. I mean, he was going a different direction. He turned, walked back to me, and said, “Thanks for that.” I could tell it was important for him to acknowledge my courtesy.

I have thought about that moment over and over again.

I did an unremarkable thing — I held the door for an elderly man. I would do that for anybody regardless of colour, religion, whatever. It’s just polite.

Like many Canadians I have watched American politics keenly from afar. I am particularly interested in American race relations and social justice. Sitting up in Canada, I kind of thought America had made better progress in healing the racial divide. Then, this gentleman thanked me for holding a door. That was profound.

In that small moment, I realized on a day-to-day basis the American racial divide is still a canyon, broad and deep. It’s just covered by a tarp weaved from the threads of integrated schools, colour blind washrooms, a black President, Mike Vick playing NFL quarterback, etc.

Some symbolic progress? Yes. Some real progress? Sure.

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Is the canyon gone?

Ferguson, Missouri, burned on Monday — attacked presumably by those who should most want it safe. It’s not the first time citizens have brought out the torches, nor will it be the last.

I don’t have the life experiences to fully understand it. I didn’t grow up in the South. Americans have so many more interesting problems that we do: abortion, gun control, death penalty, immigration. Each of those issues is defined by two things — anger and politics.

And, by politics, I mean racial politics. And by racial politics, I mean politics. There is no difference in the United States. As far as I can tell, everything has a racial undercurrent.

The big ones are obvious. Who has historically been more likely to get the death penalty, a white murderer or a black murderer?

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What is the subliminal message of many gun advocates? Nice white citizens need guns to protect their homes from criminals (code word for blacks and Latinos) who would rape their daughters and steel their china.

How about immigration? Got too many of those brown people sneaking across the border. Where the heck did all these Muslims come from? Don’t you know they’re all terrorists?

Abortion? You wouldn’t need an abortion if you weren’t jumping baby daddy to baby daddy.

Granted, there are only a small minority of crazy Americans that actually think those thoughts in such explicit terms. And, there are a huge number of Americans who are rightly appalled by that type of thinking. I’m sure many feel deep shame that Ferguson suffered such destruction. They feel guilty that fifty-odd years after Dr. King delivered “I Have a Dream,” the canyon still exists. Every once in a while, anger spills over the canyon’s edges in a very destructive way, like Ferguson. Mostly it simmers just below the edge.

Sadly, if history holds, two weeks from now most everybody will forget Ferguson. The anger will slip back under the tarp and the nation will go back to sipping Starbucks and juggling soccer schedules.

Then another Ferguson will happen. It will capture the world’s attention for a few days. CNN will cover it wall to wall. Talking heads will cry out for meaningful change. People will quote stats that show the gap between rich and poor is growing, followed by Starbucks and soccer schedules. Then another Ferguson, followed by more Starbucks and soccer schedules.

In the end, it’s far easier to integrate drinking fountains than it is to foster true respect and understanding. It’s natural to feel guilt; unnatural to sacrifice in order to make real change. Everybody wants to go to Heaven; nobody wants to die.

The canyon will remain until the American people translate guilt, anger, and good intentions into political will. It will stick around until everybody grabs a shovel and works side by side to dump dirt into the huge hole. It’s going to take time and effort. The canyon is deep — obvious to everyone when a city burns. Maybe the smaller signs, however, mean more. As minor as it seems, what does it say when a black man feels compelled to thank a white guy for holding the door for an elderly gentleman (who happens to be black)?

Maybe I’m reading too much into it. It’s just, he thanked me in such way as to make me feel what I did was remarkable or rare. I wish I had the wherewithal to ask him why he thanked me. I often wonder what had happened in his life to make that remarkable. I can only guess. I’ve read tons of books and articles on race relations. I suspect if I had just engaged that gentleman in conversation, I might have learned something extraordinary that I could never get from a book.

I never thought at the time to ask. I regret it.

Maybe that’s the lesson in all this. The way to fill in the canyon is to talk — and listen. Honest talk and open-minded listening. Unflinching questions and truthful answers. No politicians, no talking heads.

Just Americans talking to Americans with a commitment toward dousing the burning embers that every so often flame up for the world to see.

That’s the View from Up North. Have a peaceful week.


Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Keybridge Legal Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm that places lawyers in law firms and in-house roles throughout North America. You can contact Steve at steve@keybridgerecruiting.com. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@IMRecruitR), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).