Searching for Race-Neutral Ground

Recently I spent a long, at times tedious, day deliberating among some one hundred people about how history is taught and learned in Canada. I thought the evening boded well, however, when someone I had heretofore known only from afar asked if he might take the seat at dinner beside me. Quite apart from his being a perfect gentleman—a woman notices this—I had admired his respect for the opinions and experiences of others, more so since his own distinguished career was worthy of several lifetimes. He had excelled in, among other fields, academe, cultural policy and human rights. Past prime ministers and premiers had repeatedly sought his counsel and his service. Our conversation coursed from the past to the present. Suddenly, this white-haired gentleman asked me plaintively, in words to this effect: “Tell me, what can I do to make people today like me more—is there anything I can say or do, or should I just go away?” He and I answered his question with worry for a...