Supposedly the dirty little secret about race, at least pertaining to the evil Caucasium who run everything, is that all whites except liberals recognize and are determined to keep their privileges of paleness Whites who are liberals also recognize this privilege, are also unwilling to let it go, but feel guilty about it. Making odd irrational gestures from time to time, like listening to rap, wearing Malcolm X t-shirts, or voting for Barack Obama, makes the latter group feel better about themselves. I say bologna. The real, real secret for most of us in both groups, regardless of whether we think any goodies attach to our shading or lack of it, is that we don’t care. Not, don’t care as in Let Them Eat Cake, but don’t care as in, “Thank you, we understand your concern but do not rank it as urgent”. It does not show up in the data with the economy, the “war”, health care, education, crime or anything else in the list of Major Issues when reported on. Maybe race is a big issue to non-whites. Maybe, if Rev. Wright if to be counted, it is THE issue for some non-whites. Fine. But for most whites it is not an issue. We don’t think it is really relevant to anything now and even if it were, we have more important things—to us-- to worry about. Race is like the mohair industry—packing valid concerns, if you are a goatherd, or a mohair-related worker, but not of much interest if you are neither. So, when anyone says that we need a national dialogue about race—one only that can only be lead by a non-white race-member, presumably—the proper response is, “No, we don’t”. Maybe you do. I don’t. Kind of like when you are 12 and you tell your father, “We have a problem with my allowance”. Dad, if properly forged himself, should answer, “No, you have a problem with your allowance. I think it is fine. The fact that you are unhappy with your allowance is of some relevance to me, as I don’t want you unhappy, but WE have a problem with the mortgage payment. So don’t bug me.”

Of course I am not being insensitive, or racist or any such things. But this is 2008, not 1958, and the problems non-whites face are no longer any more paralyzing than those faced by overweight people, short people, attractiveness-challenged people, people who ain’t from around here, fundie Christians or folks with bad teeth. So long as people are not the same, they will not be treated the same. But that does not mean that the unfair treatment certain groups get in some circumstances rates as a social justice issue that should make the whole of society channel limited political resources into subjective problems perceived by a few. The expense, in that case, is real attention to objective problems we all face. How is that for a message of unity?