My guess is that one can find just as many people to answer that question with a no as will respond with a yes. That race matters is an issue that came to the forefront most recently during the worst hurricane to hit New Orleans in recent history. We all watched the mostly black faces as they wandered around the New Orleans Civic Center, knowing but afraid to admit, that maybe, just maybe, their government had abandoned them because they were black.

In the immediate hours that followed the realization that no one was coming to get them as quickly as they needed them to, race or the lessons that race had taught them, told them that it was because they were black that they were being left to die. In their minds, most people felt that their blackness was the main reason for them being left to their own devices and no amount of reassurance that that was not the case, that government incompetence was the reason, was going to convince them otherwise.

Did race matter in this case, one could make a safe bet that to them it did, even though government officials kept reassuring them that it didn’t. My view is that economics mattered more than race in this case, but poverty is all too often a consequence of race.

In the urgent aftermath, people from both sides of the issue stated their case as to whether it was a case of race or poverty or both that had contributed to these people being called “refugees” and being humiliated as the whole world watched in horror. Unfortunately, a horror that only lasted as long as the mainstream media showed those faces on their TV screens.

In the months that have followed, the conversation about race that some people had dared to start, albeit a quiet one, became as invisible as those faces. Soon, the talk turned to other pressing issues like no bid contracts, Supreme Court nominees, CIA leaks, and other political issues. Quietly, the issue of race disappeared from the American landscape once again.

But if we are to ever move forward and become a society that values diversity and inclusiveness, we have to apply the lessons that a catastrophe like the one in New Orleans has taught us and recognize that sometimes our decisions impact others in a way that can be interpreted as racist. That may never be the

intention of the decision makers, but they must recognize that as elected or appointed officials, or just people who enjoy a certain social stature, they must be sensitive to cultural and racial differences that exist in their communities and cities. By not understanding and not acknowledging these differences, we are doomed to keep repeating accusations and pointing fingers.

This past week, much of the conversation in the community has revolved around decisions that have been made by the Lubbock city council in regards to funding city projects. On one side, people argue that when it comes to funding projects for areas of this city that have traditionally been economically neglected have at times been made on the basis of race. That may not be the case, but people are entitled to their own perception and their perception of how these decisions are made cannot be called either right or wrong; they must be respected.

On the other side, there are people who assure us that decisions are made strictly on city policy and race does not enter into the equation at all. Race probably doesn’t, but a failure to recognize and fully understand the cultural differences that shape a person’s way of thinking might.

For example, two projects that have been pointed to as proof that funding for Lubbock’s mostly minority districts has been adequate are the Fiesta Plaza and Amphitheatre projects. Both projects have been marketed to the community as places that once completed, will serve as locations that can be used for “Hispanic events” such as Fiestas del Llano or “Cinco de Mayo”.

If that’s the case, then a person of Hispanic descent could infer that the officials responsible for these types of public funding must think that all the Hispanic community does is hold and attend fiestas. They could argue that the people making the decisions to fund these projects have no understanding of the real needs of the community, which include economic development and opportunity. For a lot of people who care more about economic well being and public safety than having a place to hold fiestas, it may seem like a total disregard of their needs. In this case, these projects may be widely seen as reinforcing cultural stereotypes, even though that was not the intent of the decision makers. But those are the consequences of thinking that we are a one size fits all community.

The issue of racial

divisions in this country have been around since Europeans first decided that they had to “take the Indian out of person” in order to assimilate them into American society. And the divisions in this country will exist long after most of us are gone. But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t made progress.

Sometimes, people just need to be reminded that just like beauty; these divisive issues are what they are, in the eye of the beholder.

Email: -- acruztsc@aol.com