You know what I think is so harmful is that people shout racism when it's not there, and then when it is there, people don't see it. It's kind of like the boy who cried wolf sometimes I think. Where it really needs addressing, people ignore it. Where it doesn't exist, people freak out. AND, I hate to say this, but when people who are not racist see people accusing racism when it's not there?? It actually *causes* some racism to start growing. SAD.
It really is the 500 lbs. gorilla in society today. Even when it is not there, it is there. When it is there, no one wants to have a frank discussion about it. So we all just sit there staring at it, hoping it will just up and leave on its own.
It is sad. I really used to be blind to color and now I find myself more aware of it--mainly so I can avoid accidently offending someone. Suddenly I worry that actions I take when sharing space with any stranger might be misinterpreted as racism when the stranger is black.
Race is such an artificial construct--as opposed to gender, which objectively exists (uh, oh...should I go there?).
I hope that one day there will be so much racial mixing in the US that none of us will know who is what anymore...and we can get back to discriminating on the basis of merit, not race, creed, or color.
Commenting by HaloScan
