I am a racist

In the wake of Eric Holder's recent comments about Americans' fear of race, I read NYTimes columnist Charles Blow's commentary on the question of an honest racial dialogue.

He points out that "most whites harbor a hidden racial bias that many are unaware of and don’t consciously agree with." I know I have a hidden racial bias. I wish I didn't, but I know it's there.

And further on in the piece, he notes that "white people don’t want to be labeled as prejudiced, so they work hard around blacks not to appear so.

A study conducted by researchers at Tufts University and Harvard Business School
and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that
many whites — including those as young as 10 years old — are so worried about
appearing prejudiced that they act colorblind around blacks, avoiding 'talking
about race, or even acknowledging racial difference,' even when race is
germane."

This, Blow says, leads to interracial interactions leaving whites "'congnitively and emotionally' drained."



So what's a poor white gal to do? One suggestion Blow made: not all black people look alike. "Basically, seeing black people as individuals diminished white peoples’ discrimination."

Charles Blow

Barak Obama

make a note.