Good could come out of the latest "N-Word" debacles

Paula Deen. Trayvon Martin. The Zimmerman trial. Riley Cooper. Insert next week's incident here.

When it comes to race in America, to borrow a phrase from my main man Bob the Builder, "We've got work to do."

Nothing is worse than a hater; a person who just acknowledges problems but never has given any careful thought to solutions. I think a lot about solutions. Here are some of the thoughts I've had about working on race relations.

In the midst of all the negative racial situations in the media lately, wouldn't it be great if we turned a negative into a positive?

Here are some ideas.

•  The first one I posted on Facebook a while ago. Instead of canceling Paula Deen's show, I wish they would have changed the format. Canceling was a Public relations band-Aid. I would have loved for the show to be continued with Paula taking four underprivileged young black girls and teaching them how to cook and earn a living in the food industry.

By canceling a show, all Paula Deen learned was to never to say the N-Word again (at least in public). It didn't do a thing to change how she relates to black people. It's not a solution that leads our country in a way of change.

• Second, in light of the obvious racial divide that reaction to Zimmerman trial exposed, everyone who wants to be part of the solution could purposefully have a conversation with a person from a culture they are not exposed to very often. In my community, Staunton, Va., there is a meeting on race on Aug. 7. This would be a perfect place to start being part of the solution.

• Third, the Riley Cooper thing was awful. But what if the black players on the team voted to keep him on the team and work toward reconciliation rather than waving him good-bye? We could have a real life Remember the Titans story that could show the rest of the country that reconcilation can happen.  

 Then we would have a model. The culture who is in the position of power (in this case the black players on the Eagles) work toward reconciliation from the position of power, because they recognize the powerless person in this situation (a white teammate who used a regrettable word choice) can't help himself out of this situation all by himself.

That model would work in a lot of situations.  And it's not even a new concept. It's as old as the parable of the good Samaritan.