it isn't that we can't talk about race. we can only talk about race as it applies to african americans. as a middle-aged white woman, i'm not allowed to be offended when, for the first time i hear barack talk about his white grandmother it is to offset/justify racist remarks by reverend wright. i think it is extraordinarily important for us to address racial issues. i also think it is extraordinarily important for all races to have religions and churches at which they feel at home. what i find difficult to understand is that reverend wright's sermons are defended as black church traditions. i don't understand how blaming white people isn't supposed to offend me. at some point, don't those of us who try to live our lives free of racism deserve forgiveness at some point? i KNOW slavery was an awful, awful scourge on the african american community. and, for that, i am truly sorry. but at some point, we all need to work together. white people should be able to voice their concerns along with black, hispanic, asian and every other group of people. but we can't continue to demonize and criticize each other and expect to solve our problems. not all white people suck.

invisiblewoman:

it isn't that we can't talk about race. we can only talk about race as it applies to african americans. as a middle-aged white woman, i'm not allowed to be offended when, for the first time i hear barack talk about his white grandmother it is to offset/justify racist remarks by reverend wright. i think it is extraordinarily important for us to address racial issues. i also think it is extraordinarily important for all races to have religions and churches at which they feel at home. what i find difficult to understand is that reverend wright's sermons are defended as black church traditions. i don't understand how blaming white people isn't supposed to offend me. at some point, don't those of us who try to live our lives free of racism deserve forgiveness at some point? i KNOW slavery was an awful, awful scourge on the african american community. and, for that, i am truly sorry. but at some point, we all need to work together. white people should be able to voice their concerns along with black, hispanic, asian and every other group of people. but we can't continue to demonize and criticize each other and expect to solve our problems. not all white people suck.

You left out the indigenous peoples of North and South America. They are always forgotten in discussions about race. Could that be due to their removal and confinement to "reservations" or territories. I don't think any group of people suck-However the history of European colonialism in Asia, Africa and the Americas has left it's ugly scar on the people who had to endure slavery, genocide and other atrocities based on their appearance and non-European culture. Once this is reconciled then forgiveness can start.

TaoistPhD, your are dead wrong. Forgiveness comes before reconciation. How is all this grude holding going to solve anything, how is it going to produce anything positive? All it does is promote racial hatred, anger and resentment.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt regardless of color and viewing and treating them like any other human is what is going to promote healing. And to hold an entire group of people accountable for the sins of another group of people, who just happen to have a similar color of skin, is unbelievably racist and injust. No, sorry, I do not personally apologize for slavery or Jim Crow, because I did not participate in these injustices, nor would I, had I even been alive. Furthermore, my mother and Grandmother, were alive and living in Atlanta during Jim Crow did not participate in these injustices either. In fact, they have done nothing in their life but tirelessly advocate against such atrocities and treat all people with equality and the benefit of the doubt. So, no they don't deserve to be the targets of this unadulterated and blind hatred and stereotyping either. I give other people, regardless of race, the benefit of the doubt and should receive the same in return.

Oh, and by the by, I am also 1/8 Cherokee and spent my childhood living on what was a Maidu reservation, where all but one of my neighbors were Native. My best friends and first boyfriend growing up were all Native. But I could not visit them at their homes and my first boyfriend hid me from his family because I was a "whitey." Do you see what grudge holding does? Absolutely nothing positive! The fact is, children don't see race, they see other kids. Adults are the ones that see this nastiness and teach it to their children.