One of my Black professors in law school said that we (the Black students in the section he taught in) and his children, and everyone else who is a minority in this country, have been drafted into this situation, and are forced representatives. Like it or not, we cannot get past the fact that when people who are different see someone different, they build their theory about "them" based on you. It happens with minorities and the majority members of a community, all over the world.

I am offended by people who call Obama racist because of Fox news. That is just ridiculous. If having Black friends makes you not racist, then having a white mother trumps that.

And finally, I do think we need to graduate to a "post-racial" mindset. Race doesn't really tell us much about a person. And what it does tell us, for most minority groups, is offensive and unhelpful. When I lived in Boston, people used to walk up to me and call me Beyonce. Like it was a compliment. And now, everyone assumes that I like certain things, like Chicken (I am VEGETARIAN) and rap music (I don't even listen to popular radio; I listen to NPR). It is the most offensive thing in the world. If you got past my skin color, and took the time to ask rather than assume (it doesn't take much time, maybe a couple of seconds) then we could get past all this foolishness of assumptions!

But, another interesting thing I heard in law school, and I know is true because of the results of an implicit bias test (look it up, and take it if you don't believe me); people need to categorize in order to easily process information. Until we find that our categorizations don't work, we will continue to be stuck in this state, of making invalid assumptions about someone because of their race.

Chris- I don't know if it becomes more diluted with each generation. I feel that it manifests in different ways, and the trend in racism is more subtle and less violent, but nonetheless still there.

Beth- by most accounts, Boston is one of the most racist cities in the country.

I don't know Barack personally so I can't say that he's racist or not, but I don't see how having a white mother would disqualify him from racist sentiment one way or the other. He does have some friends that one could easily paint as racist, but then again so do most people. I don't think he should be held responsible for Wright's perceived racism in any case.

I think we would all like to see a post-racial mindset, but we won't get there until we have some very difficult discussions and admit in the first place that we're not living in one right now.

@Vanessa- I can honestly say that I truly am surrounded by non-racists, that I guess sounds really crazy to other parts of the country but it's true! Good friends, random people, I barely ever run into anything unless it is the occasional old person at a table saying something offensive...I think our generation has been brought up in a great environment that allows for the passing of judgemental people and even puts those people in a spotlight as people no one wants to associate with, whereas with previous generations it was more "coffee talk", well not really but you get my point

@ Chris I just wanted you to know that it's nice that you enjoy that luxury. I just think that many people don't have that opportunity. I do think that our generation might be the first one to make the final push of getting racism out of the prominent spot that its been in.

@Tim Thanks for the article! Affirmative action has been trickling in as a campaign issue, but I don't know how much attention that it will receive given other huge issues such as the war and the faltering economy.

I have to say that my own attitudes about affirmative action are mixed. I think that it does reshuffle the deck so that some people might have a chance. I do think that the disadvantages might outweigh the advantages. You can see the growing backlash in ballot initiatives in California and other states and the Supreme Court case Grutter v. U. of Michigan in 2003.

If anything, affirmative action needs to shift to a socioeconomic class-based policy. It doesn't address all of the problems that racism causes in society, but it casts the widest net, so it's probably the most politically palatable solution. I think that Obama has alluded to this policy shift before.

@ Vanessa- I'm conflicted about affirmative action as well. I think it's too dull a tool and does more to damage race relations in the US than help.

@ Beth- you do have a point about segregation- I live in Chicago, which is made up of several dozen little cities with their own ethnic makeup. But I don't think it applies to all of the Midwest- that's too great a generalization.

100 percent with you on the alternative history- I wrote about it a while ago when the Wright controversy broke out.

http://timm84.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/defending-jeremiah-wright/

Beth- I think you are not understanding my point about history. I think it is incredibly valuable for us to learn about the past and the wrongs that the country or even the world has done to people. What I find to be stunning, is that generations that have never been touched by slavery still use it as a shield for deeper problems. If you have an ignorant white person talking to you in a racist manner then I encourage you to bring up the conversation but generalization of a race can work both ways. The whole chicken and Beyonce argument was about the generalization of your race but to bring up slavery as the problem and fault of white people is also a generalization, the country was split with white people that helped free minorities from bondage. My point is that I have no family history of slave owners and I find it offensive when slavery is used against me. We can learn from the past but unless whites can move past skin color and blacks can forgive, then racism is going to exist and that would be the fault of all parties involved!

By the way, I am in Pennsylvania. We may be bitter and cling to our guns and religion, but I can tell you right now racism around me is not that big of a deal...move on out here! : )

I have to agree with Milena. Race and prejudice are not a thing of the past - I live in Chicago also, and neighborhoods are separated by ethnicity. But I definitely won't base my vote in this election on race.

What's interesting to me is no one talks about money, which I believe is a far greater segregation in today's society. It affects where you live, who you meet, who you socialize with, where you eat, where you work, where you shop. Racial segregation seems to stem from socio-economic status in my observation.

Maybe that's why I don't see race when I look at the two main presidential candidates. Age, sure. But otherwise I see two politicians with very different platforms, and I plan to vote based on those platforms.

I am curious what everyone sees as the end results of the abolishment of racism? In particular I often hear about segregation. Does that mean when their will be no more race segregation will be no more and races will be distributed appropriately throughout a city? To a point this also goes to socio-economic status. As long as we are capitalist there will always be a poor class and always be a wealthy. Is it the goal of some to have the poor live among the rich and vice versa? I get that feeling at times reading these comments. Like people tend to navigate to each other, I don't think that will ever change. Is that a bad thing?