The biggest issue I have with these race relation pieces is when people put too much importance on the color of their skin
I kinda get where you're coming from, but part of the problem is that we put too much importance on the cover of our skin because other people do so first.
I had the same viewpoint as you for a very long time. I was a black kid in a primarily white school, and I didn't see any differences between me and everyone else.
Eventually though, those differences start to be made whether I want them to or not. Being told "I'm not that black", getting stopped while walking in a nice neighborhood because of a "disturbance"... the point I'm getting to is that it's very hard not to put importance on my own skin color when it's the first thing I'm immediately judged by.
"Let's stop seeing color" is a nice thought, but it doesn't work in practice. Instead, recognizing that it's okay to be a different color, and that I'm not more likely to be a criminal because of my color, would be super awesome. And you you might get that, but there are many, many people that don't, whether the article demonstrates that well or not.
Edit: Also, Hyperdimension Hype, I just started Rebirth1 on the Vita and I'm tearing through it.
"Let's stop seeing color" is a nice thought, but it doesn't work in practice. Instead, recognizing that it's okay to be a different color, and that I'm not more likely to be a criminal because of my color, would be super awesome. And you you might get that, but there are many, many people that don't, whether the article demonstrates that well or not.
My wife's mixed race, so she got it from everybody, from within and without. Everyone can be a total dickwad, regardless the color of their skin. It seems obvious that the corollary is true, as well. It's just that telling racists they're racist isn't going to do anything, they know it's wrong to do what they're doing, but something about their brain wiring is fucked and they do it anyway.
All I'm saying is that chastising white people, labeling them all as racists because of what some hypothetical schmuck in Alabama does isn't going to help. It's going to push more folks away from whatever these people are trying to do.
I kinda get where you're coming from, but part of the problem is that we put too much importance on the cover of our skin because other people do so first.
I had the same viewpoint as you for a very long time. I was a black kid in a primarily white school, and I didn't see any differences between me and everyone else.
Eventually though, those differences start to be made whether I want them to or not. Being told "I'm not that black", getting stopped while walking in a nice neighborhood because of a "disturbance"... the point I'm getting to is that it's very hard not to put importance on my own skin color when it's the first thing I'm immediately judged by.
"Let's stop seeing color" is a nice thought, but it doesn't work in practice. Instead, recognizing that it's okay to be a different color, and that I'm not more likely to be a criminal because of my color, would be super awesome. And you you might get that, but there are many, many people that don't, whether the article demonstrates that well or not.
Edit: Also, Hyperdimension Hype, I just started Rebirth1 on the Vita and I'm tearing through it.
My wife's mixed race, so she got it from everybody, from within and without. Everyone can be a total dickwad, regardless the color of their skin. It seems obvious that the corollary is true, as well. It's just that telling racists they're racist isn't going to do anything, they know it's wrong to do what they're doing, but something about their brain wiring is fucked and they do it anyway.
All I'm saying is that chastising white people, labeling them all as racists because of what some hypothetical schmuck in Alabama does isn't going to help. It's going to push more folks away from whatever these people are trying to do.