As an African-American I have always felt my own resentments towards whites because of our nation's history of racism and my own experience of racism.
Part of that my resentment lies in the fact that black concerns about race in this country, especially black anger has never been given the same legitimacy or political support that the anger of white Americans has.
Despite that fact, Obama's speech and the racially polarized results of the Democratic nomination fight have made it clear that whatever championing the resentments of whites have received those feelings seem to have grown.
In the spirit of Obama's message of understanding and reconciliation I want to start a dialogue about those feelings of alienation.
In my life I've seen the GOP gain politically off of the fears of white Americans mainly by casting first blacks and now Latinos as the enemy.
I know this kind of racial game-playing has a long history. Contrary to breathless accounts of the country's founding many whites who came to this country were indentured servants.
Stoking the fires of racism between black slaves and white indentured who were suffering similar abuse by the upper classes was a good way of preventing unrest.
I understand why that happened in our early history, but why does that thinking continue today?
Why don't poor and working class whites see that blacks and Latinos haven't been and aren't living any better than they are?
Is that need to strike out at the "other" so ingrained that the reality of who really pulls the economic strings can't be understood?
What do they think they are gaining from that kind of thinking considering that the right-wing political forces that exploit there anger have never delivered on the economic promises made to them?
Lastly I want to ask how can we turn this conversation around and educate poor and working class white Americans to the real nature of their struggles and give them a way to voice their concerns that doesn't veer off into racial aggression?