Column: Ending discrimination is a job for all of us

Published 7:30 am Thursday, January 19, 2017

Our weekly feature, the Question of the Week, can be a challenge to produce, which is probably no surprise to anyone who has participated in answering the question. We often have to ask six, eight, or 10 people to find four willing to publicly answer the question and pose for a photo, and that 10th person can probably see our relief when we finalize their responses — thank you for that.

This week’s question was definitely one of the more difficult ones, both to ask and to answer.

My test of a question is always to play the part of person on the street and try to answer it myself. If I can’t do it, I don’t expect anyone else to. This one, though, was important to me.

So in fairness to all of you willing people on the street, I’m going to answer the question too, but I’m going to break the rule, and give a one-word answer.

What do civil rights mean to me? Responsibility.

As the only daughter of your average white American family, given every opportunity in life, I know how lucky I’ve been. I’ve never been turned away from a voting precinct for a flimsy reason, never been rejected for a job because of my skin color or accent, never been arrested and held without explanation because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It would be ridiculous to claim that I’ve never been harassed by individuals because I didn’t fit in somewhere, but I can honestly say that I’ve never come up against the wall of institutional discrimination that I worry exists, even in this country, even today.

For that, I am grateful. But I also suspect I’m in a shrinking minority, and lately, I’m not sure I like the company.

As a minority who’s opposed to being one, I have a responsibility to grow that minority. I need to increase the numbers, and colors, and shapes of people who can claim to be as lucky as I’ve been, who haven’t faced institutional discrimination in any significant way. And I need to do that until this group is the majority.

So does every other person in that group, if we really want America to live up to its reputation as a place of freedom and opportunity.

It’s our duty, both to ourselves and to the people who don’t look exactly like us.

In the last month or so, I’ve heard about several organizations, each started by a handful of people who want to make a positive change in the world. I’m excited to learn more about their plans and report back to you.