Have you ever heard the whisper?
Recently, in an empty parking lot, a colleague recounted a situation she had with a sales associate at a local store. “She was a Black woman,” my colleague whispered. I looked at her and asked, “Why are you whispering? There’s no one around!”
There were no controversial declarations or arguments, no racial epithets. So why whisper?
The whisper has become a social strategy to address potential insensitivity when talking about race. It reinforces the notion of race as a dangerous issue.
It is as though whispering about race essentially will render any message benign, and a discussion about race will be unnecessary. Simply, the whisper is the proverbial proof that a person is racially sensitive and therefore not racist.
Unfortunately, the whisper is literally one step removed from silencing. Race remains a challenging and complex subject, and our national discussion remains hobbled, foreboding, and rife with anxiety -- despite whispered attempts to be polite.
Events in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charleston have shown us the palpable anger and frustration over inattention to the ways in which race affects groups systemically, institutionally, and personally.
As we know, when the room gets louder, whispers get drowned out in the cacophony. So, rather than whisper and reinforce fear and trepidation, just say it. If someone is offended, simply say in a normal voice, “Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean any disrespect. Could you help me understand?”
The more we talk, listen, and share, the less we need to whisper.
I’m Joseph Flynn, and that is my perspective.
