racial consciousness

Last Friday I was invited to attend a Rotary Club meeting in Racine, WI. It was fun meeting the members, and learning about their history and charitable projects. If asked to join I’ll probably accept for a start date in 2014. The weird thing about membership, though, will be attending weekly meetings in the Racine Country Club. A stereotype of country clubs is that members are a bunch of old White guys sitting around trying to keep women and racial minorities out. I was the only person of color present (in a group of about 40), and there were just two female members in attendance. There were a lot of younger men at the meeting, however, and I enjoyed the general vibe of the group.

I was also the only person of color in the room when the chancellor and provost took me to the Kenosha Country Club at the end of my first week on the job last month. As we rolled up I joked, “are you sure they are going to let me in this place? I grew up in the South, you know, so I need to check!” They responded that the university would not have a membership if there were any exclusionary practices. After a nice lunch they informed me that I could be added to the membership list.

So what do you think, readers: should I join one or both country clubs, knowing that I’ll be one of the few faces — and maybe the ONLY face — of diversity?

A couple of weeks ago The Society Pages published “Colorblindness vs. Race-Consciousness — An American Ambivalence,” in which Meghan A. Burke begins with anti-stereotypical observations in her research: “Consider a setting: a racially diverse urban neighborhood where organizers and most residents take a tremendous amount of pride in their community’s racial diversity. But many still think the black kids in their community don’t learn the ‘right values’ and avoid the parts of the community they code as ‘ghetto.’ Or how about a rural community in Illinois, where some Tea Party organizers feel that Obama’s election was a step forward for race relations, support the Dream Act, and grew up taking pride in attending a black congregation.” I have to admit that I was a little worried about how I would be received on a recent trip to the Post Office in the small town of Somers, WI, next to my campus. Everyone was friendly, and the clerk was an African American man (!). I’ll have to keep Professor Burke’s article in mind as I venture out to additional rural areas of the state.