connecting*the*dots

Mr. Sun:

Joe - We are in the umpteenth chapter of Jerry’s historical look at the Wray case. Along the way, we’ve made day trips to November 3, 1979 and had a very smelly sleepover in the News & Record’s dirty laundry room. Every week, people are pouring over this historical detail. You have even been excerpting it. As usual, there is all this amazing interest and energy around placing blame and confirming preconceived notions about race in Greensboro. You see identity group politics. I see other things. The river rolls on. When it comes to discussing the TRC report, or anything that requires people to let go of their judgments and take a leap of faith together, the interest stops dead cold. All of the sudden, it’s a “waste of time,” “part of the past,” “a crock,” — too “backwards looking.” Clearly, it’s not the direction that’s the problem. It’s the focus. People are loving the look backwards as long as what they see is familiar. I don’t know who is right or wrong in the Wray case. I don’t even understand the question. I would just like to see people on both sides of the divide divert even a fraction of the energy they currently devote to meticulously footnoting their own particular shade of racial bitterness. This feels like a late-career Tyson fight to me — all this competitive hype, but when it’s all over there is no clear winner and it all feels like a setup for the rematch which you know is coming and you’ll have to pay for it.