Crickets

Crickets

I’m nervous about this upcoming Monday’s episode of The What’s Up Next Podcast. Not because of what was said. Although what was said may seem controversial to some. Not because the topic was particularly difficult or uncomfortable to approach. Although it was both of those things. I’m nervous because of the possibility of fear and indifference limiting the conversation. I’m worried that people will run away from this topic instead of running towards it. What if the response is silence? Crickets?

Is Financial Independence Different?

The episode asks a simple question. Is financial independence different for the African American community? As simple as it is, the answers are complicated and sometimes downright emotional. This is a topic that I imagine is exhausting for black people, and rather uncomfortable for everybody else.

So much easier to sweep this conversation under the carpet. Why talk about things that make us squirm, avert our eyes, or possibly get us impassioned? What if I say something that accidently upsets someone?

The questions abound, and yet the answers are few. All those things are possible. Everytime we open ourselves up and talk about difficult topics, we are exposed to risk. Both good and bad. Deeper understanding and empathy requires this of us.

The six of us who participated in this panel have faced these risks, and emerged feeling like a productive conversation took place. Speaking for myself, I find a stronger connection, compassion, and respect.

But what if people are too scared or skittish to engage with such content? What if the response is crickets?

Civil Rights

Equal access to employment, opportunities, and even financial independence is a civil rights issue. When the Boston Globe reports that a study finds that the median net worth of black people in Boston is $8 compared to $247K for their white counterparts, we have a serious problem. The personal finance community can’t just shake their hands and preach about frugality, savings, and travel hacking. It doesn’t resonate. The problems run deeper.

And the solutions are complex. Chief among them is the fact that varying racial groups are not getting together to talk about these things. We are not sitting across the table (or the microphone), and staring into eachothers eyes and having these important conversations.

We cannot define ourselves as a community if we systematically ignore a sizeable swath of our population. Unless we seek to understand and learn, we are lost. Unless we run towards these conversations instead of away from them, we lose.

Crickets. No response at all. It’s the worst outcome.

Final Thoughts

Taping this episode felt extraordinary. Important. It felt like laying out an incredibly intricate and difficult conversation and making it manageable. Palatable. It felt positive and optimistic instead of painful and hopeless.

I walked away feeling engaged, and enlightened, and consider myself an ally of the other five people who participated.

I hope the response is not crickets, and that instead of fear we embrace openness. That people feel safe commenting and adding their voices to the growing knowledge. That we speak and listen.

That we hear each other.