The Uncomfortable Truth: a Preview

NOTE: this piece is part of a series featuring black writers & artists for Black History Month. This is a preview of a piece that will be published in early March.

Ah, Lexington: who among us can properly laud your excellences? Lexington, a tower of financial strength, home to activist groups aplenty, and a force for light in many a time of darkness. And the diversity! With organizations such as the Korean Organization of Lexington, (KOLEX), the Chinese Americans of Lexington (CALex), and the Indian Association of Lexington (IAL) being so prominent and well-known, any claim that our town is in fact not as diverse as we believe would be instantly dismissed as nonsense. Balderdash. Pure, unsubstantiated hogwash. All one has to do is walk into any one of the schools, or Panera on a half-day, and they will see dozens, if not scores of minority faces of all different shades! Except, they won’t. Sure, there are many minorities living in Lexington, many times that of nearby towns, but one group of people is noticeably and woefully ab sent. It is doubtful that you have not heard of the aforementioned minority groups, but if you were to say that you have never heard of the ABCL, I would have no trouble believing that. The ABCL is the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington. Granted, it is small. However, that should be more eye-opening than excusatory. According to data from Data USA, the percentage of Lexingtonians identifying as white is 68.8 percent. The next largest group is those who identify as Asian, coming in at 25.4 percent. Can you guess the bottom demographic? That’s right, the amount of us who identify as black comes in at a whopping 0.97 percent. Now, is that the fault of the citizens of Lexington? No, not entirely. Lexington is an extremely, almost embarrassingly affluent town, and the systems of segregation and institutionalized racism which persist in every corner of our nation try their damndest to keep out black and brown people. However, the lack of black people in Lexington is a different, larger problem. The issue that goes hand in hand with this lack of representation is what’s most dangerous: a severe lack of information.

by JORDAN O’HARE GIBSON