Community Analysis
Introduction
Greensboro has been able to become a more just community since the 1979 shootings, but, in my opinion, should now be labeled as a stuck community. Upon reading the Executive Summary, listening to our speaker and looking over The Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project website I have decided that Greensboro is doing an excellent job in this mission, but it is extremely hard unless one has commitment of the entire community. To understand this truth and reconciliation one must understand the events that took place on November 3, 1979. This event changed the community forever and Greensboro was discussed all over the country because, “In Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979, members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi party killed five people and wounded 10 others as activists gathered for a statewide “Death to the Klan” rally and conference for racial, social, and economic justice.” (2003-4)
I feel that it is unbelievable that the Greensboro Police Department was not present at such controversial event. The American Nazi party used such a blatant slogan that I am not surprised that this event occurred because of the absence of the police department. Now this is not the only reason this event occurred, and I am not blaming exclusively the police department. This, however, was a major contributing factor. I feel that the African Americans had been treated unfairly long enough. This is to me another major contributing factor. At this time, a lot of places were still segregated, and they had enough. I can only imagine what it would be like to not be able to go eat anywhere I want, to not be able to have a voice. I really respect Rev. Nelson Johnson because of his contributions. He was vital in this attempt of truth and reconciliation. He got arrested because he was simply trying to voice his opinion on the racism within the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK is, in my opinion, ignorant and unable to except differences, and change is a good thing. However, some still are involved in this, judgmental affiliation within the KKK. It is just inhumane, but Greensboro is doing something about it. That is extremely beneficial to the community, but everyone must be involved. I will argue that Greensboro should presently be labeled as a stuck community, for the community still must reconcile there differences and learn how to converse invitational and use gift conversations with the community and media holistically and dialogically.
Analysis
So, according to Allen, difference does matter, but she does claim also claims that social constructionist usually seeks to identify themselves from which, “our identity arises out of interactions with other people and is based on language” (Allen 11). So, we learn to have an understanding of who we are based on others. Is everyone a social constructionist? I feel that everyone is to a certain extent. They base their self esteem and self concept on what others communicate to them, but can this be misinterpreted? Oh yes, it can indeed be extremely misconstrued. And, some of the people of Greensboro do not have enough openness to discuss controversial issues and see things through another’s eyes. Or, maybe they base their reflections on only some individuals. Some people listen and really care about only some people’s opinions and these people that feel this are usually similar. They could be from the same class, or the same gender, or from the same race. I have found a lot of people here be very mean and racist. So, they are unable to discuss things or care about the way the opposition feels.
Then we have this concept of power that can be depicted, “as a behavior or process that pervades all human interaction” (Allen 25). There are so many different types of power that most have power in many situations and do not even utilize it. For example, hypothetically speaking let’s say there are two individuals. One individual is the CEO for SAS inc, a prestigious position. The other individual is a recent college graduate looking to begin a career at SAS. The college graduate is knowledgeable in many areas, for example, he worked with special needs children for eight years. The CEO is not knowledgeable of this subject. These two meet face to face and to discuss the future of the company. The subject of special needs children is brought up. Now, who has the power? The recent college graduate has the power but does not even know it. He is an expert on this subject and must utilize it. However, so many of us do not have a clue that they could actually have the power in any situation with the top person of the company.
I think that the people of Greensboro are so scared to make a mark and make a change that they are unable to get past any previous standards that have kept them from establishing themselves. For example, in the above description of the college graduate and CEO, the main point is that the college graduate is not willing to utilize his voice. Some of Greensboro is still like that and people are not willing to stand up and use their power to make an impact. Some believe that they should have some form of consent from another, a form of hegemony. “A primary medium for communicating power is language, which helps to disseminate ideologies and reinforce hegemony (Allen 34). So, the voice and the way one speaks semantically are so related to how they can establish power. People have to learn to speak dialogically and in depth and respect each other for the unique perspective of that individual. This will have to happen to truly have a truth and reconciliation.
Now, I will discuss how race significantly manifests within this reconciliation and truth. This might be one of the most important aspects of the reconciliation process. One major reason is that the 1979 shootings were based on racism and hate. Hate is such a strong word but it must be used because the Ku Klux Klan hates people of the African decent, and the same applies to any white person that does not think like them. This is horrible, but the KKK still exists in Greensboro today, and I think that is why we currently still stuck, because of that hatred that coexists along with these wonderful individuals within the reconciliation process. And it must be noted that white privilege still exists today in Greensboro. White privilege is, “the unearned, unacknowledged entitlement one receives simply because of their white skin” (Allen 89). I feel people of Greensboro are still stuck within this mentality, unfortunately.
Now, I will discuss dialogue and how important it is to this reconciliation process. At the beginning of this course, I thought dialogue was any conversation that two individuals experienced. I have formed an opinion based on the class that dialogue is actually only dialogue if it is somewhat a deep form of communicating. It is when one listens to another’s perspective with an open mind. It can be a perspective that one may never have heard, but dialogue in general, is so essential in the process for Greensboro to be a reconciled community.
Greensboro needs to also develop holistically rather than an atomist might perceive life. The community must look at themselves not individualistically, but rather holistically to develop the goal of reconciliation. All the philosophers of dialogue discuss it holistically. Tensionality is also an important characteristic of dialogue. Within dialogue, one has to be rather in depth maybe discussing a topic that each person perceives the subject differently. The more differences they have the more tensionality that the dialogue consists of. Managing tensionality is essential in the reconciliation process, as well. So, once the people of Greensboro learn to listen and learn from the differences of others we will not be in this stuck community.
From the perspective of Pearce and Pearce, they believe in taking a communication perspective of dialogue. They believe that most communication is dialogue. One of the main qualities they weave through this article that constitute dialogue are coherence, “used to designate human activity as meaning-making, not a judgment about the success of that process” (Pearce 47). For a community to be coherent they must stick together and use dialogue in the process.
I will now discuss solely why Greensboro can be considered a stuck community according to Block. Greensboro is “a community of problems to be solved. Those who can best articulate the problems and who can best articulate the solution dominate the conversation” (Block 39). I feel Greensboro definitely still has problems to be solved, and therefore people who can best articulate for the community are speaking, but they need participation of more individuals within the community. I also want to discuss the type of communication with the media that will be essential in the reconciliation process. And, I feel the agenda setting theory is essential in the media’s representation of our thoughts because a basic proposition of this theory is that literally the media can put topics in front of one to think about. Just take a look at the paper and the major articles. Then, think about whether or not these major topics in the paper are discussed in the conversation of most individuals. Usually, these items are discussed, so the media plays an intricate role in our thoughts, conversations, and opinions, and according to Block, “The public conversation most visible to us is the interaction between what we citizens want to hear and the narrative put forth by the media” (Block 46). He also notes that “in a retributive context, fear, fault, dependency on leaders, cynicism, and indifference to associational life act as if they are evidence based. If we are committed to a future distinct from the past, there we treat them as a matter of choice, and we call this context, not culture” (Block 56).
Next, there are a couple different conversations that produce “an accountable and hospitable community” (Block 113). To be precise there are six: invitation, possibility, ownership, dissent, commitment, and gifts. I will elaborate on three: invitation, possibility, and gifts. When one gives a member of the community an invitation they must remember that, “Invitation counters the conventional belief that change requires mandate or persuasion. Invitation honors the importance of choice, the necessary condition for accountability” (Block 113). Invitation is the first conversation, and a first impression given to the member of the community so this must give the member an opportunity to make the decision or choice establishing accountability. Then “the invitation is activated by the possibility we are committed to. This becomes the reason for gathering” (Block 119). Within this conversation, possibility, the participants need to decide what they are going to do to make a difference.
Gifts are important conversations to have to many of our exclusions of it in our relationships with people, for, “in community building, rather than focusing on our deficiencies and weaknesses which will most likely not go away, we gain more leverage when we focus on the gifts we bring and seek ways to capitalize on them” (Block 139). One must learn to include the conversation more regularly to maintain and just community. And lastly if we have any chance at a reconciliation, we must, “argue that what is really needed is not a technical discussion of how to ‘fix’ the problem but a continuing conversation on the nature of what the problem is, including a recognition of how the answer to the question might differ depending on whether you are at the centre or the margins of community life” (Arneil 239-240).
Conclusion
Before preparing for this paper by reading a lot about how a just and hospitable community establishes itself, I did not understand the work it takes to establish a just community. I was aware that difference does matter, and that differences can sometimes be quite beneficial. But, I was unaware of how much true dialogue establishes itself within the reconciled community. Also, by thinking holistically and learning to handle tensionality as a learning experience. It is important to stick together as a community, to have coherence and holism. The many conversations that are required to bring the community members in and having the gift conversations to simply establish appreciation are also required. Greensboro still has some way to go to be reconciled before we can be categorized as the reconciled community versus the stuck community. I plan to utilize these skills within the community.
References
Allen, Brenda J. (2004). Difference matters: communicating social identity.
Ilinois: Waveland Press, Inc
Arneil, B. (2006). Diverse communities: The problem with social capital (pp 163-
220). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Block, Peter. (2008). Community: the structure of belonging. San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehlier Publishers, Inc
Pearce, W. Barnett, Pearce, Kimberly A. Taking a communication perspective on
dialogue.
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