Race Rants & thoughts

I read an article the other day that a friend of mine posted on G+. It's an article about the race in the Stranger called "Deeply Embarrassed White People Talk Awkwardly About Race" http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/deeply-embarrassed-white-people-talk-awkwardly-about-race/Content?oid=9747101

It was really interesting to read the few comments people left...

i couldn't quite make it the whole way, it annoyed me too much.

i just can't stand the whole "oh let's make whites feel bad because they have more privileges" idea

If you feel bad or you are annoyed its because you have some psychological problems you aren't addressing and not because of the laws designed to address the racial divide of power in our society.

Yeah apathy is a fairly large problem in America.

It's surprising to me just how emotional and how uneducated we seem to be about race. We've come a long way from where we once were, but it seems that even though we don't care or don't talk about it, it's still a big issue.

Race is such a touchy topic for everyone...I do have to point out though, that most of my friends are white, I hardly have any non-white friends and of those friends they do not acknowledge my ethnic identity and it doesn't occur to them that there is a race issue for me because I am Karen. I behave just like them, therefore all of my experiences must be the same. At the same time it's frustrating to not have all of me acknowledged and to be treated differently just because of my looks.

Many Caucasian Americans will either expect me to know English, be surprised that I speak English 'so well' or believe I speak little English if any. Often people are also surprised to find out what I look like based on my name. I happen to have a very European name....This happens in supposedly an educated city that embraces multiculturalism. Racism is more subtle these days, but it definitely still exists and there's definitely something to be said for the privileges that come or don't come based on skin color. People should talk about it more.

I would never outright say I'm racist, but that doesn't mean I've never been guilty of treating or thinking that someone is different based on skin color or accent.

I think many believe the race topic is dead because we already had our civil rights movement in the 60's. Never mind the fact that just this last year some Caucasian American tried to bomb a Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in a city in Washington. No one talked about it though. Why? Stuff like this still happens and yet no one wants to deal with race or talk about it because it's so emotional. Blatant or not...skin color still matters today. Ask your friends who aren't Caucasian American.