Prometheus 6

I think what would immediately help is some specificity. We need to distinguish between the run of the mill prejudice inherent in virtually all societies, and the black-white chasm that's been with us since our founding. What I believe Obama was addressing, was something different than the nativist bias that's now being visited upon Hispanics. No disrespect to America's great ethnic gumbo, but this conversation is about black people and white people.

By saying that, I don't mean to claim that racism itself is only about black and white people. What I mean is that the divide between black and white goes beyond prejudice and right to the very core of how white America has always defined itself. The concept of "white people" has proved itself to be very malleable, integrating people who initially were never thought of as white (Irish, Italians, potentially even Mexicans). But black people are the great insoluble. Having been since the country's founding, black people are still the most segregated group in America. Slavery, the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement weren't just about racism writ large, they were about the gulf between black and white. What I am trying to say is that while there may need to be a "National Conversation About Racism," I think history shows that, over the long term, America has coped fairly well with the protean concept of race. But it hasn't coped particularly well with black people.

Only one thing to add.

Evidence.

Definitions of whiteness amid the Delta blues
In the Mississippi Delta, race isn't as easy as black and white.
Gregory Rodriguez
January 14, 2007

Sunflower County, Miss. — 'ARE LEBANESE white people?" we asked 71-year-old Ned Holder, a former sheriff here. "Yes," he said, "although they're real dark." How about Italian Catholics; are they white? Sure. And Jews? Yes. What about the Chinese? "Yes," he said, "they go to the white schools." And Mexicans? "They're becoming more white. More of them are getting an education."

Then what's a white person, we asked? After some confusion over the meaning of the question, he concluded that it was probably anybody "who isn't black."

And note how our expert's definition hinges on education.

And if that's not enough, check out Where We Stand.