My father took me to the eye doctor not long ago. The pressure in my eyes has been slightly elevated. After a thorough examination and waiting for the eye drops to finally kick in, the doctor told me I’m doing okay. Eye exams, particularly a dilation procedure, can be extremely uncomfortable. But, that wasn’t the most unpleasant part of my lengthy visit. 

My father told me what he heard in the doctor’s waiting room after my eyes had adjusted back to normal after several hours. A woman was conversing with another person in the waiting area. She claimed that our current President of the United States is too elderly to run again.

Although my father did not enter into the conversation, he said something to me that I’ll never forget: “We are racist up here and have patterns of discrimination in northeastern Pennsylvania.”

Segregation occurred before my time. Still, there’s one thing I cannot deny. We’ve been tone-deaf and passive-aggressive toward those people from our underprivileged communities. The region’s “rightful heirs” never had a true pulse regarding our future ethnic landscape. 

They were unprepared for the significant transformation that was about to occur in the Coal Region. The powerful wielded their strength. Unfortunately, they never helped those people of color and the impoverished, who were misrepresented due to their disadvantaged circumstances. My community has tremendously suffered economically, socially, and racially.

Regionally, we’ve come a long way with our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. However, there’s always a dark side to every narrative. Northeastern Pennsylvania, where I live, has a history of discriminatory and deeply rooted racist conduct toward our Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color population, or what’s also known as BIPOC.

During last year’s Juneteenth celebration, The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park formerly the Coal Street Park in Wilkes-Barre, PA was dedicated to our nonwhite neighbors. It’s a good start. To abolish systemic racism, however, we urgently require actual action and courageous leadership. More, I believe, can be done, such as providing great economic possibilities and putting an end to bigotry. Aside from lifting disadvantaged people out of poverty, this can benefit everyone if we work tirelessly to improve racial equity.

Ethnic diversity has been steadily on the rise in northeastern Pennsylvania. Here are some of the beautiful ethnic transitions I have witnessed in my neighborhood alone.

A new Latin American family has moved into the corner property. On my street, Poplar Street, I’m warmly greeted by people of several different races and the sweet melodic music from my neighbors’ backyards. There are also pleasant Mennonites residing in my neighborhood.

The atmosphere and mood are drastically different from when I was growing up in the Rolling Mill Hill / Iron Triangle section of Wilkes-Barre, PA. This cultural shift has been significant for a region surrounded by mountains and once dominated by the coal industry.

It’s gradually becoming a less hostile community. We’re evolving into a true ‘Melting Pot.’ Something more remarkable has occurred in my area over the last 20 years. My entire neighborhood is finally practicing kindness and concern toward one another.

After much contemplation, two empowering thoughts sprang into my mind. The first is that when I was younger, I really wanted to learn more about these individuals from different ethnicities. As I became older and more conscious of my surroundings, I knew there had to be more to life than the dominant white culture. 

This gets me to my second realization. Stop treating these marginalized human beings as though they are uneducated second-class citizens. Listening to our neighbors and understanding where they are coming from as people will begin the process of dismantling systemic racism.

I’m now making it a mission to gain a basic understanding of those ethnic roots that differ from my own. We can start this lifelong journey by leaving our ‘Comfort Zone.’ A simple walk in your neighborhood to engage your community could be an excellent place to start.

Marginalized individuals representing different cultural roots are coming to northeastern Pennsylvania not just to begin a new life for themselves, but they want to be accepted into my community. This is merely a portion of the solution. Tolerating is a half-hearted effort. It hardly scrapes the surface of intolerance and ingrained racism. From my own perspective, my region has a long way to go before achieving racial equity, but we’re getting there. 

I want to be real to my white colleagues for one moment. We can’t say that we’re not racist when we engage in racist behavior. These microaggressions might appear harmless to a white person, but they may be hurtful or emotionally unpleasant to someone of color. Society is counting on us to break down these racial barriers and seize the moment in meaningful dialogue with one another. Our very survival depends on our ability to effect positive change.

These invisible veils of ignorance must be lifted. I have another very important item I feel I must share with you. With my white privilege, I have this awesome responsibility to start creating a proactive racial transition on the grassroots level. More work must be done since this battle of racial ignorance regarding a person’s cultural roots is never over.

By Matthew Philistine