BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  JUL 18

Much of the racial conflict in America cannot be resolved by politicians or in a political arena, especially a presidential campaign, already awash in racial hypocrisy. Voters should not tolerate the exploitation of race and class warfare in any campaign. Something has to change as well in the formulation of public policy.

When it comes to race there is some serious sorting out required, starting with the distinction between civil rights and human rights.

Many of the gross inequities in our system of criminal justice, public education, in our economy, and in the distribution of health care, even in transportation, can be traced to the imprisoning effects of poverty, not racism.

The relationship between these chronic problems in America and race obviously exists, but if we think of them only in those terms, we end up focusing on temporary, piecemeal solutions rather than long-term permanent change and too often we end up with nothing.

In addressing these issues those on the left sometimes mistakenly and sometimes recklessly, play the race card. It is the most used card in the deck. We will get farther and achieve more if we seek consensus on change, with a focus on the human rights and human dignity to which we should strive for all Americans. We can move from reactive responses to grievance, to broader proactive reforms.

Our institutions of government have not just let down black Americans, they have let down whole generations of Americans denied opportunity, denied access, denied mobility, and advancement because of their human condition.

The police officer who shot Philando Castile in Minnesota wasn’t “white,” he was Hispanic and his lawyer says he didn’t shoot Castile because he was black; he shot him because he had a gun.

That may turn out to be a bad example. I don’t know. We don’t know the truth. We have only prejudicial perceptions created by the media and opportunist politicians like Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, who force us into conclusions before we know the facts.

The incident in Minnesota may turn out to be a gun problem and/or a race problem. What about the white drug pusher killed by a black policeman in Seneca, South Carolina? A race issue or a drug issue?

Some black activists seem to see racial injustice in every issue on every street corner and in every human heart. They stir the emotions and motivate protesters, but in the end that doesn’t resolve problems.

Justice is supposed to be blind; so should public policy.

A Hispanic teenager in Fairfax County who has great difficulty with English is at a disadvantage with fellow students and faces hurdles and obstacles to his or her future that others do not. It is a condition that denies that teenager equal opportunity. The discriminatory nature of that condition is real. But that teenager’s problem is nothing compared to the inequality suffered by countless young men and women on Indian reservations from South Dakota to Arizona, who have been denied what millions of other American children have been afforded–basic nutrition, a decent home, minimal health care, basic education, or beyond the school, access to equal opportunity in the workplace.

The problems in our society that take on racial overtones are chronic problems of national inequality and unfairness. They transcend race. They are of the human condition, and they defy what our recently celebrated Declaration of Independence framed among the hopes and aspirations of the country.

The overarching problem in the formulation of public policy, of course, is the dearth of compromise and consensus, two great American instruments of self rule that have been maligned, repudiated, and rejected for too long. Those instruments depend on mutual respect and trust, of which there is none in our politics and too little in our society. They require something from everyone, white and black, liberal and conservative, big city dwellers and their country cousins, and mostly the media. Too many just don’t seem of a mind to do that. It is easier to say no.

That can change if we reconsider our predispositions, redefine the approach we take to issues and seek new directions that offer us an opportunity to rise above the streets. That can change if we view “his” problem, as “my” problem, and “their” problem as “our” problem.

Facts, Faith, and Focus.

Editor’s Note: Mike Johnson is a former journalist, who worked on the Ford White House staff and served as press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel, prior to entering the private sector. He is co-author of a book, Surviving Congress, a guide for congressional staff. He is currently a principal with the OB-C Group.