According to Raymond Two Hawks Watson, racism is real, but race is not. The founder and CEO of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative joined Cranston Public Library and OneCranston Health Equity Zone on Jan. 23 for a Community Connections talk where he facilitated a discussion that helped define the constructs of race and culture. This activity helped guests distinguish the differences between race and culture, and to understand and embrace Watson’s viewpoint that, although race is a hotly-contested issue, when the term is examined in greater depth, the construct simply ceases to exist.

Watson, a Providence native, advocate, civil rights leader and consultant, is using his 16-plus years of community experience to pursue cultural parity in the state of Rhode Island. As a member of the Narragansett tribe, he assisted the City of Providence with its Municipal Reparations Commission in 2022.

During the event, Watson shared universal definitions of social cohesion, including one created by Dick Stanley of the Canadian Federal Government’s Social Cohesion Research Network, which reads, “it’s the willingness of members of society to cooperate with each other in order to survive and prosper.”

Much of Watson’s discussion led listeners away from broad-brushed stereotypes and instead invited them to embrace and experience the true differences between race and culture, and all the nuances of human existence that cannot be categorized so simply.

An example of this concept was given about the term ‘Latino’. Upon much deeper exploration, a Latino could be someone from Mexico, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Colombia or countless other Caribbean, Latin or South American countries. All these places have specific cultural profiles, from food to language to clothing, so to call them all only ‘Latino’ would be a disservice to all groups involved.

Cultural equity, according to Watson, is achieved when individuals are, “ensuring that the expressions of diverse cultural communities and their cultural practitioners are protected and supported in a fair and equitable manner.”

Watson asserted that the concept of race was born around colonial times, noting, “they’re all really social constructs that were introduced to undermine and divide colonial interest in the Americans.”

“When we look at contemporary manifestations, the culture, community, the history, all these things in relation to race – race divides, it scrambles, it assimilates – it does all of these things that ultimately serve the interest of people who have more and want to keep it,” he continued.

Watson then led a discussion educating guests about the levels of racism, spanning from unwitting or unconscious racism up to antagonistic racism, where people cause harm to others or their property as a result of preconceived notions of their skin color, heritage or background.

Watson and his guests built on his assertion that race does not exist by discussing that races do not seem to exist anywhere else around the world the way they do in America, especially in the countries from whence United States citizens come. Guests who were not native Americans agreed and shared examples.

The concept of ‘colorblindness’ was also discussed, and Watson asserted, quite strongly, that any goal for all citizens in this country to become ‘colorblind,’ that is not see someone’s ethnicity, skin color, or general appearance, is, at best, unsustainable. He noted human beings’ innate abilities to perceive each other’s physical and language differences and explained that in order to truly work towards social cohesion, people must approach one another with true openness and acceptance.

Watson then opened the floor to questions and discussion.

Community Conversations are presented by OneCranston Health Equity Zone in the spirit of creating a harmonious Cranston community. Check the organization’s website (onecranstonhez.org) to sign up for their newsletter or to learn about future Community Conversations.