The array of topics — substandard education, stigmas towards interracial dating, poverty as a roadblock for healthy lifestyles, the AIDS epidemic — did an adequate job of humanizing those issues.

The prolonged marginalization of the African-American community has staunch correlations with discriminatory measures of yesteryear’s legislation. These side effects continue to do more than simply linger in today’s society, something a lot of people simply don’t understand in 2008. “Black in America” and it’s programming should be a necessity for those people.

It’s a reminder that those scholars and politicians who laud eugenics as a feasible concept for African-Americans, or any disenfranchised community, are in denial over exactly what has transpired over that last four centuries in this country.

That point of view is almost un-American considering how hypocritical the argument really is, granted you understand the status quo was built unfairly on the backs of all Americans and not because a race harmlessly pulled itself up by its bootstraps. It’s downright insulting for people to suggest that “a little elbow grease” will erase the darker side of America’s legacy.

Thusly, we keep having these specials, where maybe a few thousand people will learn these issues aren’t mere coincidence. They’ll realize the assertion that one race simply lacks the willpower and intelligence to make due in this country, African-American or not, is textbook racism.

That small minority may realize the truth that these issues stopped being a “black thing” a long time ago, and that such a quagmire involves each person in America, including themselves.

A remarkably smaller number may go on to hold positions of stature that can continue to help bridge the gap between races and minimize any disparity a community faces.

One can be certain the increasing amount of coverage on the matter goes hand in hand with the reality that may come Jan. 20, when Sen. Barack Obama may be sworn in as America’s 44th president. The coverage is an effort to make sure people shed their apathy about what extremes plague the African-American community.

That apathy is especially hard for me to overcome. Whether it be my stint as a student leader of the Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE), trying my hardest to educate Hubbard Hall and the East complexes on the virtues of diversity, or as the Minority Representative of this paper, requesting on a constant basis that we have a wider array of stories pertaining to different ethnicities.

I’m not concerned one bit that my plea for people to educate themselves about history sounds like a broken record. The only reason a broken record annoys people is because no one shows the initiative to put a stop to it. Every time a person gets annoyed that a prominent black leader is once again asking for change, people should realize the request is not without merit. Until that happens, we will continue to see these shows on CNN until we get blue in the face.

Blame is neither necessary nor constructive at this point. It’s not about Democrat versus Republican, liberal versus conservative or black versus white.

My final suggestion for this column toward finding a solution is for those with the ability to think critically and reject the facade that everything is peachy and agree society once took malicious steps against some of its citizens. Until people agree there’s work to be done, there’s no potential for us to work together.

Jahshua Smith is the State News minority representative. Reach him at smithjah@msu.edu.