To answer a question posed in a popular diary at the moment, I DO understand that I have a certain inherent privelege because I was born with white (slightly olive oilesque) skin. Now what?
Do you want more affirmative action programs? Ok. Do you want better funding for inner-city schools, more books, more after-school programs, more programs to help minority parents deal with the everday issues of life that many of us take for granted? Ok.
Do you want special programs in hospitals that help minority patients "navigate" through the care system, so that their chances of receiving the best care possible are increased? Ok.
I get race. I get that there are serious, serious, serious issues here, problems that have to be fixed. So... (more on the flip)
... let's say we fucking fix them and stop fixating on whether the 82% of us who visit Daily Kos almost every day who are apparently White/non-Hispanic GET RACE!
Because there are limited dollars to go around, limited time to get things done, a general public with the attention span of a 3-yr-old or who would rather spend their time watching "Dancing with the Stars" or devote hours to making their best fantasy football picks for next week than actually consider how to deal with the multitude of race-related problems in this country (and the world, for that matter).
So let's get the minimum wage raised.
Let's get interest rates on college loans cut in half.
Let's get some form of universal health care enacted.
Let's enact tax cuts that help lower- and middle-income class families.
These are just a start, but, if we can do these things, maybe, just maybe, we can actually make some progress that will help people of all races, but particularly those from minority groups who continue to get a raw deal in the American dream.
But we can't do these things if we beat each other up about whether we get race. I get it and I think a lot of others here do, too. At least enough to want to do something about it.
So can we just get to it already?
NOTE: For whatever reason, I cannot link to the diary to which I am referencing "Do White Kossacks 'Get' Race...", but it's a recommended diary at the moment. When I try using the URL for that diary, I get an error, so I am posting it without a link. Sorry.