A group of seven accomplished African-American men gathered on the stage in Prosser Hall at Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary recently to discuss what it means to be black and male in the United States. Christopher Hunt, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Intercultural Advancement and Global Inclusion, moderated the discussion.

The program was sponsored by the Black Student Union, the Department of Political Science, and Moravian College’s Center for Intercultural Advancement and Global Inclusion.

Before the discussion began, political science professor John Reynolds introduced the program with the observation that, while Americans thought we had become a post-racial society in which race no longer matters, we have discovered otherwise. When the police shot twelve-year-old Tamir Rice, mistakenly believing he had a gun, the incident was seen as one more example of a black male perceived as a threat by law enforcement. Hence the necessity of continuing conversations about race, Reynolds said.

Dean Hunt began the discussion by asking the panel what it means to be a black man in contemporary America. Dr. Jarrett Patton, president of the medical staff and advanced practice clinicians at the Lehigh Valley Health Network, said race is a social construct. In other places in the world “it’s not such a big deal.” While living in Ghana during his medical training, he was an outsider by virtue of having lighter skin and a different accent. Ghanaians called him Bruni, meaning a white person.

A. Reed Raymond, vice president and chief administrative officer of the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia, attended predominantly white schools – Cherryville HS and Moravian College. While living in Cherryville, he was once stopped by the police who couldn’t believe he was living in a white neighborhood. He said he wanted to go into banking because banking is power. To succeed in the conservative community of bankers, he had to dress up and do some things differently. Raymond said sometimes he feels like he’s living in two worlds. He wants to be authentic, and having achieved success in his profession, he feels he can go back to his core principles and articulate them.

Maurice Taylor, a business owner in Allentown and Bethlehem, also went to a predominantly white school. However, at get-togethers with his large family, he was puzzled when told he wasn’t black enough. “I take pride in being myself,” he said.

Dean Hunt said when he’s in WaWa or Giant at night, he wonders if he is being looked at more closely than white customers. All the same, he tries not to see the world through a racial lens. Liberty HS principal Harrison Bailey echoed Hunt’s sentiments. “I am 42 years old with multiple degrees and in a position of some esteem.”

Even so, when he is in a store and he picks up an item he is going to buy, he is concerned that he’ll be seen as a thief.

Panelists were asked what they have told their children about growing up in a white world.

George Bright, Moravian’s athletic director, makes sure his children understand that their destiny is not controlled by their color. “Your destiny is shaped by you.” Dr. Patton’s children, ages seven and 10, don’t perceive race as he does. They are puzzled when he tries to warn them about racial profiling because they haven’t experienced it. He tells them to stay composed if they are stopped by the police. Doing this has kept him out of trouble. He doesn’t want his children to be anxious about race, but to know how to behave.

Tyrone Kelly, a retired detective sergeant in New Jersey, is now employed in a psychiatric hospital. Kelly said he grew up in a bad area of New York where he “saw things a child should not see and was called a [expletive deleted].” He has told his children that when in his youth he was stopped by the police he would show his ID but also ask why he had been stopped. He has also counseled them never to look at others from a racial perspective but to listen to what they have to say. Bailey has warned his children that, if they’re coming home after dark and the streetlights are off, they should not run. An African American running after dark is suspected of being “up to something bad.”

Dean Hunt asked opinions on whether President Barack Obama has not done enough for the black community. Bright said Obama “is caught between a rock and a hard place and has done a great job just being who he is.” Bailey said as principal at Liberty he has not been an outspoken person for any one group. Many have seen him as there just for the black students, so he has had to be careful. Dr. Patton noted the president has tried to lift up everyone and address the issues that would do the greatest good for the most people.

The concluding question for the panelists was what message they would want to leave with the students.

Bright told them to challenge each other to “take the N word out of your conversation because that word stings.” Taylor counseled students to remember that being a student means “trying to find your way. …be a sponge…take in everything.” Patton advised them to “define yourself, and don’t let others define you.” Kelly counseled students to “develop a purpose and a plan and then you’ll get where you need to be.” He told them about a picture hanging in his office that depicts someone at the top of a wall looking back down to pull someone else up. “That’s what we all need to do – pull someone else up.”