JACKSON, Tenn. — March 9, 2007 — Juan Williams is tired of the same old discussions about race relations. He hurts to see the breakdown of the family, especially among the African-American population.
And he hopes to convince others that the day has come for a new level of conversation 鈥� among people who really care about their communities.
鈥淚 hope that all of us start talking, and start talking with a sincerity of heart,鈥� said Williams, author and National Public Radio correspondent. 鈥淪tart talking with an understanding of race consciousness that suggests we鈥檙e all children of God, and that if we鈥檙e truly to fulfill God鈥檚 mission for us, we have to build a stronger community. It requires that we keep our eyes on the prize.鈥�
Williams was the guest speaker at 51社区 March 7 for the second installment of the ninth annual Union Forum. Nationally syndicated columnist Mona Charen spoke at Union Feb. 21 to open this year鈥檚 event.
Williams is the author of 鈥淓nough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movement, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America 鈥� and What We Can Do About It.鈥� In his address at Union, Williams said Americans need to understand where they are in history and act accordingly. Too many people in the past didn鈥檛 recognize opportunities -- like the civil rights movement 鈥� for what they were, Williams said, and they missed out on being agents of change.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 understand where they were in history,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 understand the opportunity that had been given to them to put their hands in the muck and mire of American life and to sculpt or shape what was to come.鈥�
Williams recapped a speech by Bill Cosby in 2004 at a celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Cosby spoke directly about the problems he saw among African-Americans, including the fact that 70 percent of black children are born out of wedlock in the United States, compared to only 25 percent of white children.
Cosby also criticized the threatening, violent imagery of black young people promoted by music videos on BET.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all dressed like they just got out of jail, with their pants hanging off them like they don鈥檛 have a belt, the do-rags on their heads, a lot of the tattoos,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚t looks like jailhouse fashion. 鈥� Imagine the damage being done in terms of young black people who are seeking some affirmation of themselves as strong, capable souls, and seeing that this is what is being glorified, this is what鈥檚 being elevated in the American mind as authentic black behavior.鈥�
But many people accused Cosby of blaming the victim, Williams said, and argued that Cosby didn鈥檛 understand the problem of institutional racism in America.
鈥淐osby was pretty much marginalized, his message condemned,鈥� Williams said, despite the fact that 鈥渟o much of what Cosby said seems to me to have roots in reality.鈥�
Williams also spoke about Oprah Winfrey鈥檚 decision to spend $40 million to open a school for young black women in South Africa. Some critics questioned why Winfrey would go overseas instead of spending her money to help black youth in the United States.
鈥淲hen she goes to these American inner-city public schools, the kids want iPods, they want sneakers, they want to be on her TV show,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淏ut she said when she went to schools in South Africa, the black children there spoke to her about wanting books, about wanting better schools, about wanting the opportunity to learn and to become leaders in their society, wanting the opportunity to travel, to get to know people, to learn other languages. She decided that that was a better place to invest her dollars.鈥�
Williams also pointed to the recent resignation of Bruce Gordon as head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, because of his dispute with the NAACP board over the direction of the organization.
Gordon thought it was time for the NAACP to enter a 鈥減ost-civil rights era,鈥� Williams said, 鈥渋n which people would actually be addressing the economic and education issues as a way to erase racial issues, to bring people together on equal ground and to help them understand their common destiny.鈥�
But the NAACP board disagreed, and holds to the position that people still need to march and to sign petitions, instead of getting involved with real problem-solving.
鈥淭his is the kind of debate that I think is appropriate here for the 51社区 Forum, because all of you are Americans engaged in a time of change in this community,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚t really comes down to making the most of our people here at home, to making sure that we are embracing our children. That we鈥檙e being good parents. That we鈥檙e saying 鈥� even if we鈥檙e not particularly biological parents but part of the larger community 鈥� that we love our children. That we believe in them and in their capacity to learn and to succeed. That we make maximum use of every soul on this earth.鈥�
Charen, in her Union Forum address Feb. 22, said the United States must strengthen its resolve to win the global war on terror in which it is engaged.
鈥淲e are in the midst of a struggle against Islamic extremism that is taxing us militarily, economically and psychologically,鈥� Charen said. 鈥淲e live in fear of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of enemies whose savagery continues to shock. And yet, life in Washington, D.C., sometimes appears to be more of a sideshow than the center of the free world.鈥�
Charen criticized liberals for their lack of support for U.S. military efforts. 鈥淭here is a tendency among many in the West that is worrying, and it鈥檚 a tendency among liberals to see every conflict as somehow America鈥檚 fault,鈥� Charen said. 鈥淭here is a spirit of surrender on the Democratic side that is deeply disturbing.鈥�
She described demographic developments in Europe which could result in a Muslim majority on the continent within the next 50 years. Europeans simply aren鈥檛 having children at replacement rates, Charen said, while Muslim families are growing exponentially.
By 2005, for example, Charen pointed out that 鈥淢ohammed鈥� was the most popular boy鈥檚 name in the United Kingdom, as well as several other European cities.
鈥淭he world we and our children face going forward is a world in which we will no longer have to debate about whether or that policy has the approval of our allies, the Europeans 鈥� because the Europeans will no longer be our allies,鈥� Charen said. 鈥淎lthough, in the case of the French, it will be hard to tell the difference.鈥�
President George Bush has his faults, Charen admitted, but she remains convinced that he understands the urgency of the conflict the United States is fighting.
鈥淭his president has, in my judgment, a far better grasp of our overall strategic situation than do his critics,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e recognizes that a withdrawal from Iraq would be a defeat, and that the consequences of such a defeat would be felt for generations to come.鈥�