2024 has taken off without a Chapel Hill snowfall – now full speed ahead with pollen and concern for the November election. What started out as a year to focus on my house decluttering campaign and plans for a semi-permanent escape out of the country has turned into a nonstop “shaking of my head” when considering certain phenomena happening in the longstanding struggle for justice.

“They sicken of the calm who know the storm.” ― Dorothy Parker

As most Americans know, one must be really careful when discussing politics and religion with strangers. Well, I have put that notion on the back burner over the past several months primarily because of the importance of this upcoming fall balloting. Do believe the messaging – it is a turning point presidential election. Politics is everything and everywhere as all human relationships have a power dynamic. So, I have initiated conversations with people locally and beyond with the purpose of gauging their interest in political matters or religiosity, level of understanding of the impact of racism, or disdain for one certain North Carolina candidate. I have also been marinating on a lot of ugly responses to inclusion and simultaneously celebrating persistence and resistance to evil. Indulge me, please, as I venture on with a brain dump on racial equity and politics.

  • Thinking of North Carolina African American Lt. Governor Mark Robinson as our next governor is frightening. His hateful rants and political positions are an embarrassment to me as a Black Christian American. With his Donald Trump endorsement, dark money and lack of transparency funding, and being the popular pick of the NC Republican party, Robinson is campaigning with a bold confidence of victory. This Holocaust and election denier is a dangerous person who maneuvers like a cult figure with little to no evidence-based research to back his tirades about women, ethnic studies and programming, gun violence, science curriculum, and sexual orientation. Robinson is bad news. Period.
  • UCLA Law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, the co-founder of the African American Policy Forum states, “In America, those of us who are in the business of knowledge production now live in institutions that are under assault, accused of promoting ideas that are too dangerous to be taught, too divisive to be uttered, and too scandalous for children to hear. The fantasy of making America Great Again seems to turn on returning to a time when the grasp of inequality was normalized and defended.” There is so much to say about people who refuse to accept the reality that many non-White people are having very poor outcomes compared to Whites in all our systems in every state. And most importantly, we can do something about it if we want to. There are far too many talkers and fewer doers on our college campuses and corporate boardrooms. Who can stand with persons in authority who choose to bow down and succumb to toothless threats? Where is their power? Being colorblind or holding a mindset of race neutrality will do nothing to change the historical and current harm and unnecessary deaths that occur each day. We tend to view inequity as a problem for Black and Brown people. Racism harms everyone.
  • Is today’s Republican the same as yesterday’s Republican? I often hear media pundits debating this topic. I don’t think the deliberation is necessary. If one isn’t about lifting up all of humanity and valuing the connectedness of community, party affiliation is irrelevant. I agree with political commentator Brian Taylor Cohen, who asserts that “Republicans are not pro-family values, pro-fiscal responsibility, pro-states rights, pro-police, pro-constitution or pro-military. That is, they are pro-Donald Trump and nothing more,” Disagree? Please introduce me to one of those GOPers who believes otherwise and yet, stands in strong support of Trump. (Note: The rather creative rebel rousing Lincoln Project members do give me hope that there is capacity to awaken and step away from the cult of Trump though.) And of course, there are progressive Democrats who love the status quo and their homogeneous circle of family and friends. They can’t relate to non-Whites either because they don’t have any non-White relationships to help inform them on issues and varying perspectives.
  • Did you know that “Friendship Networks of White Americans Continue to Be 90% White”? According to the Public Religion Research Institute, White Republicans (73%) are more likely than White independents (66%) and White Democrats (66%) to report entirely White social networks. Does this matter? I say, “yes.” In terms of homogeneity, Black people have the most diversified friendship networks among all racial and ethnic groups. So, considering the racism and classism present in the United States I find it interesting that Blacks continue to create and nurture relationships with everyone. Possibly, we engage because in our DNA we know that it crucial for safety. And yet, I am confident that there are some who consider this openness and closeness to non-Blacks to be detrimental to Black survival though.
  • The attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming in educational institutions is disturbing to say the least. There are more than 30 legislative policies targeted at schools who have DEI budgets, curriculum, and programs. These bills are mostly generated by White politicians in the South or areas where there are fewer residents of color. Any bit of critical thinking provides the answer to why. Just like not talking about sexual assault is not going to reduce or eliminate sexual assaults neither will not talking about race eradicate the racial disparities. In fact, when you visit the doctor don’t they ask you about your medical history? It’s important to have as much information as possible about your past to better diagnose patterns and predict outcomes. Removing the history and education about disinvested communities will not make America great. It will only make us weaker and more disconnected.
  • Who is willing to come to the rescue to stop the very strategic crusade by arch conservatives to eliminate efforts to support and instruct learners about the United States full history and sacrifices made by Americans to have a “more perfect Union”? Warning: Be on the lookout for those best-intentioned advocates who are rightfully disturbed by these attempts to circumvent faculty governance, core values of the institution, and the will of visionary leaders. Sadly, some Black and White well-meaning persons jump into the justice fray with no racial equity training or organizing skills and yet, are happy to schedule a meeting with administrators to talk about what is happening and how they can be of assistance. They use outdated language and concepts that just perpetuate the challenge of bringing people together to find common ground. Folks, please don’t confuse activity with achievement. These efforts only make matters worse as it wastes time and energy. Time and time again, we see antiracism backers who lack a strategy (or can’t articulate it) and an analysis and understanding of power. They steamroll ahead often with a shortage of best practices resources and research and a limited historical knowledge of why the structural racial capitalism happens. These uninformed and repeatedly “lone wolf” persons soon become angry and exasperated not realizing that their best attempts only lead to a cycle of performative actions and alienation from the community. Dismantling racism is very much an art and a science. Optimism and passion are not enough. Those who seek to make things better become frustrated and eventually step away from the movement. Jurist Ruth B. Ginsburg once declared, “Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

Speaking and writing about racial equity can be exasperating and exhilarating. The vast amount of research on mental health and racism informs us that we need to figure this matter out before we lose hold of our sanity and our country’s democratic experiment. We rightfully make note of 1619 as the year that Jamestown, the English settlement in Virginia, received more than 20 African captives.  However, we should also acknowledge that the trade of Africans began in 1501 by Spain and Portugal. Many of those enslaved were dispersed to Spanish settlements in the Americas. Thus, the United States has yet to overcome the consequences of centuries of legal enslavement, legal segregation, and false narratives about the descendants of the global African diaspora. Isn’t it about time we work together to stop the denial of the realities? Perhaps William Faulkner said it best, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” The ghosts of yesteryear and the bogeymen of today are alive and well. Wake up, good people.

“Never Too Far” contains perspectives and insights from an inquisitive and engaged Orange County transplant from Philly. Deborah Stroman is an entrepreneur and UNC leadership professor who has seen too much and not enough, and thus continues to question and explore the thoughts and actions of humankind.

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