Race still matters

Over the course of the last three or four months I've had the opportunity to speak openly about race with my friends -- black, white and Latino. Race was always something my black friends and I spoke of openly, but my white friends always seemed to feel squeamish when the subject came up. I learned over the years this was likely a response to fear of being called racist, which I somewhat understand. But I've made a point to try to press my friends to speak about race at least conceptually since the election and I hope others are trying to do this as well.

What I have found is disappointing. Although some identify themselves as progressives or liberals, they hold the same conservative views about race that have been and perhaps will always be part of the master narrative. What I hear most often is "race doesn't matter," and "I was raised not to see color." But when pressed with more questions, these arguments tend to evaporate into debates about wherever discrimination exists and even occasionally if it really matters (i.e. "I know plenty of hard-working, successful black people").

The argument that discrimination has been diminished since the Civil Rights Movement won't get any dissent from me. I know it has. But it has not been eliminated. And what frustrates me is the commonly held position that because discrimination and racism are less tangible and visible than they were in the past that they do not exist or matter. Discrimination does persist and will continue to do so until we can speak openly about it without evoking the old "race card" rebuttal.

We have an obligation to each other to really engage in a conversation about race and racism, without reducing it to anecdotes and stereotypes. I plan to continue discussing it within my circle and I hope I'm not alone.