Confronting Tough Issues of Race

Dec. 5, 2006 — -- Pretending everyone is colorblind is a running joke on America's comedy shows.

"Now I don't see race, people tell me I'm white and I believe them because I belong to an all-white country club," Steven Colbert recently quipped on his show, "The Colbert Report."

Robin Roberts discusses your questions about race in a LIVE WEB CHAT, today at noon E.T.

Colbert's Comedy Central colleague Dave Chapelle gets laughs playing a blind white supremacist unaware of his own color

"Good Morning America" wanted real women to weigh in on the issue of race. "GMA's" Diane Saywer and Robin Roberts gathered together a panel of three black and three white women --- among them, mothers, college professors and journalists -- to talk about the truth.

Fear of Sounding Racist

The women agreed right away that among the first things people notice about each other are gender and race, and that's OK.

Sawyer brought up the first topic: do a lot of white Americans feel they're being tested by black Americans by having to watch every word lest they be accused of racism ? She asked, "What if I said something really insensitive and boneheaded?"

"It would be my responsibility to say to you, 'Diane, that's a racist remark and I'm offended by it, so don't do that again,'" said Glenda Dubois, who is black.

"But Glenda aren't we quick to say that was a racist remark?," Roberts asked.

"Right. How can I ever talk again if you think that that actually sounded like a racist remark?," Sawyer continued.

"I think most people are less likely to say ... that was just offensive, period," Mitzi Miller said.

Being Comfortable Around Different Races

All the women agreed that people have to give each other the benefit of the doubt.

They also agreed that there is a tendency to feel more comfortable around people of the same skin color. Is that discrimination?

Miller said feeling comfortable isn't a black versus white issue, it's a green issue.

"It's a green issue, because there's a lot of free thought when you're young and you don't have a lot of money and you don't have a lot of obligations, but as you get older, the people that you're really comfortable around are the people in your same economic bracket," she said.

Psychology professor Rebecca Bigler claimed that gross inequities between black and white Americans are part of the reason race is such a big issue.

"Why we're here today is there are terrible racial inequities in the United States in almost every domain you look at: health, mental health, physical health, in education levels, in income levels, white Americans are privileged over others," Bigler said.

Bigler said Americans are uncomfortable mainly because we don't often sit down and talk openly about questions of race.

But a study shows that by five-years old, 80 percent of children know that all American presidents are white. A third of them think it's against the law for a black person to be president.

Bigler said white families, in particular, shy away from talking about race, and that's a disservice.

"It's what black parents have been doing, so white parents need to talk about race with their kids, but specifically, they have to educate them about racism, and this is tricky," she said.

Teaching Kids to Embrace Diversity

What should families say to their kids?

"What you say is people have a tendency to like their own groups better," Bigler suggested. "And you say to kids that that's something that's probably wrong."

The women agreed that it's important to emphasize to children that people who speak different languages and practice different religions are interesting and worth getting to know.

"I think it's critical," Dubois said, "because if we don't, we will drift farther and farther away, schools will again become segregated schools, communities will become that way."

It's not just a social obligation to talk frankly with each other. Studies show that black and white people actually need each other to perform best.

In one study, a white jury was tested on remembering evidence, then a black jury was tested on the same thing. Neither of those two groups did as well as the racially mixed jury.

"Take your children to diverse places," Bigler suggested. "It might make us uncomfortable, but it'll be an adventure and we'll learn something."

Roberts asked the women if being uncomfortable was prerequisite to trying something new.

"You say that, 'uncomfortable,' and I know people at home are going, 'But does it have to be uncomfortable? Is it always going to be uncomfortable? Is it okay for it to be uncomfortable?,'" Roberts asked.

Dubois said being uncomfortable and breaking new ground is a sign that something good is happening.

"Because that's when you grow. That's when you grow," she said.