Can we truly know our Racial Differences?

I’m white. I want to know more about the great fissure of our day, race, and race from the African American side. To that end, I have just finished two books that give very strong positions on the many injustices visited on the Black race. The World Between Me and Be a Bridge have given me insights into thinking I have not been exposed to in my world of “whiteness”. None of us can ever truly walk in the shoes of another regardless of race. There are just too many nuances, too many little events someone else experienced that we can never duplicate. I can never be you. You can never be me, and I’m not just speaking about race. But acknowledge the uniqueness of each of us, doesn’t mean we can’t make the effort to at least know about the life experiences of others. That knowledge gives us a chance of finding similar experiences and needs and desires and positions on life. I know that by the simple act of reading these two books I have gained a “oh, I see” moment or two on where one segment of the Black race stands.