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So Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks thinks we need to start a conversation about race. Just where has this man been? The discussion of race is everywhere, TV shows, mainstream media, talk radio, the classroom, the pulpit, the street corner. My suspicion is that the #RaceTogether campaign is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy, glomming on to the latest social issue to draw attention to the company and there by driving up sales.

If Schultz, and all the others that keep racial tension at the forefront of our collective conscience, really wanted to foster understanding and unity, they would be addressing the real cause of societies’ downslide.

The conversation should be about character, accountability, personal responsibility, and good old common courtesy. The lack of these, is evident everywhere, from the checkout counter, to the highway. Right and wrong are malleable according to the situation, our behavior is never our fault, and for every injury or insult against us, someone must pay. We continually cry out for “justice” when what we really want is vengeance.

This isn’t a black vs white, rich vs poor, man vs woman, Democrat vs Republican issue, it’s an American issue. We have bought into the “it takes a village” ideology. We believe that it is the “village’s” responsibility to take care of us and our children rather than assuming that responsibility ourselves, and have thereby become a self-centered nation of victims. Always ready to demand that we be treated the way we want to be treated, but never willing to look deep within our own psyches and our communities, to correct the bad attitudes and moral deficiencies within ourselves. We must have the courage to stand up for right and justice, but we must also develop the wisdom to know when a grievance is really worth taking a stand for, and when we should just toughen our skins and walk away.  We should be willing to accept the truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable to face and puts us or our loved ones in a bad light.