In his Washington Post op-ed, Eugene Robinson makes the case that Condoleezza Rice lives her life in a bubble that shelters her from the problems of race.
Robinson notes that, although Rice grew up in the segregated, Bull Connor south, she fails to let those problems shape her decisions in the world as the secretary of state. Because of this, Rice is disconnected from the black community, so Robinson argues. She doesn?t feel ?obliged to reach back and bring others along,? both figuratively, in the sense that she doesn?t revive the racism of the Jim Crow south by carrying a chip on her shoulder, nor literally, by reaching back to her past and appointing black aids, simply because of their race. In short, Robinson is ashamed that Rice, as a black, will not relive the past in her everyday life, as well as practice reverse discrimination.
I fail to see how constantly reliving the poor race-relations of the past will help society move forward. The best way to make race a non-issue is to treat race as a life-shaping experience, not a life defining one.
