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Global changes dissolving racial barriers
Marty Latz
Special to Jewish News
"You think of yourself as a colored man. I think of myself as a man," stated Sidney Poitier, portraying John Wade Prentice, to his mailman dad in the 1967 movie classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Poitier played a brilliant African-American doctor living in Switzerland who fell deeply in love with a wealthy California white family's daughter. Poitier was the dinner guest - and quite the shock to Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who played the girl's parents.
It also shocked Poitier/Prentice's African-American parents. For, in 1967, the notion of a bi-racial relationship presented serious challenges, and bi-racial marriages were quite rare. And those rare ones, according to Spencer Tracy, as Matt Drayton, would "shock, offend and appall" approximately 100 million Americans. This couple had, according to Tracy's character, a "pigmentation problem."
Much has changed in the last 30 years. And much will change in the next 30. Who knows what we'll look like and how we'll interact in 2028, or 2058? According to predictions and current trends, Hispanics will be the majority in Arizona by 2040.
The Civil Rights movement and Vietnam War protests defined the 1960s. Anti-establishment fervor hit new highs during these tumultuous times. Our democracy faced several crises, some race-based, but we survived. Economic dislocation with high unemployment and high inflation marked the 1970s. Of course, this occurred after President Nixon resigned in disgrace, having done more to destroy Americans' trust in government than any president in recent memory. Our democracy, yet again, survived.
Presidents Reagan and Bush subsequently presided over a conservative renaissance that led in many ways to the spread of democracy worldwide and the ultimate disintegration of the Soviet empire. President Clinton built on this by recognizing and stressing "the economy, stupid," and focusing on the increasing interconnectedness of the global economy. No longer independent, we're now interdependent on others' economies and economic policies for our own well-being.
Fueling this interdependence is the defining event of the 1990s - our ongoing communication and technological revolution. In the coming century, these factors will combine to change the way races and nationalities interact - personally and in business. The increasing prevalence of e-mail and e-commerce will effectively make the world smaller, more familiar, less frightening and less intimidating. Since fear of the unknown and undue reliance upon often untrue stereotypes contribute greatly to racial tension and problems, easier and more prevalent communication between all should lessen this tension. It may even contribute to continued world peace.
Plus, the anti-establishment fervor felt today by some minorities will dissipate as increasing political power will result from a larger population base in a democracy. In short, society's "pigmentation problem" will fade, due to forced economic integration and easier intercommunication. This is not to say that different races will lose their special identities. I hope not. Our diversity contributes greatly to our overall strength. Instead, we should come to understand and appreciate each other better. John Wade Prentice might have put it this way: Where today we're more likely to identify ourselves by our race, tomorrow we'll be more likely to identify ourselves by our citizenship. This is as it should be.
Marty Latz is a Valley attorney and negotiation consultant. Anyone with comments can write to him via e-mail at mlatz@negot.com.
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