Thinking about Race: February 2012

Jay Smooth, a video blogger and host of New York’s longest running hip-hop radio show, presented at a TED conference meet-up at Hampshire College. In the talk, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race,” Smooth says it’s sometimes difficult to talk about race because we’re taking the wrong approach: “We deal with race and prejudice with this all-or-nothing, good person-bad person binary, in which either you are racist or you are not racist.” The truth, he says, is that discussions about race are a lot more complex than that. And once people acknowledge that fact, they’ll be able to have more honest and productive conversations. He adds, “Anytime we’re dealing with race issues, we’re dealing with a social construct that was not born out of science or reason or logic. We’re grappling with a social construct that was not designed to make sense.”

On YouTube, search for Jay Smooth and then choose “How To Tell People They Sound Racist.” To see the full talk, go to colorlines.com.

The Baltimore Yearly Meeting Working Group on Racism meets most months on the third Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, at Bethesda Friends Meeting or Friends Meeting of Washington. If you would like to attend, on a regular or a drop-in basis, contact clerk David Etheridge.