Ellen McGrath Rozsa,
Lakeside, VA
I think we need an anti-discrimination czar at the federal level to force a national discussion in America about confronting our history of racism. I nominate Barack H. Obama. Racism permeates every level of our society and we will never really overcome this handicap if the majority of whites refuse to even admit it’s still a problem. If it matters, I am a white Baby Boomer raised in a mostly white, working-class, Catholic environment outside NYC. Some of the places I’ve worked have been multicultural, but the neighborhoods I’ve lived in, the churches I’ve attended and my circle of friends are predominantly white, like me. I was not raised with what I would call “active racism” in my family of origin: we didn’t hear or use the “n” word, I didn’t hear anyone express hatred or the wish to harm non-whites, but we were uncomfortable in our interactions because we didn’t know any black people, really. I grew up in the 60s and 70s worrying that black people didn’t like us.
