Should we coddle angry white men or tell them the truth?

[ProudLib72]

16. I wish I could find it now. There was a panel on a TV show about a decade ago

White man and black man discussing racism. The white man disbelieved the black man's list of grievances, simply would not admit that racism existed to the extent the black man made out it did. Finally, the black man stood up and was basically yelling at the white man "Can you accept that my experience is different from yours?" In that moment it became clear to me: white men cannot understand the experience of minorities. It is beyond the scope of their imagination.

I'm not saying that these people are stupid or willfully ignorant. I'm saying that there is no way to appreciate the minority experience from within a dominant white culture. Their misconception is that dominant white culture is being "destroyed" by minorities. What they are really feeling is culture shock, being exposed to new possibilities and the fact of the minority experience. When someone's values and beliefs are challenged, the natural reaction is to strike out. But at whom does one strike out when it isn't a person but a shift in cultural values that is doing the challenging?

To answer the question, the only way to appease angry white men is to reverse the shift in cultural values. Go back to the 50s when people knew their place as based on skin tone and were careful not to rock the boat. In other words, it is a losing strategy to try and appease the angry white males.