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Schtuze, I thought you knew that liberals like Steve ('power name?') Blow talk about equality to each other. And they would talk to Latinos and Blacks about it too, if they knew any. The few they do run into pander to the liberal ideals of either 'Professional Angry Minority' or 'Race Pimp' are quickly sent away with a check. Blow doesn't really want to know why a James Ragland is not like him, he just wonders why they were not smart enough to be born into the country club set like they were.

Some keen insights in plain speech.

Sadly, those in the majority culture often have no ability (or desire) to attempt to see things from the perspective from the minority culture(s).

OK I'm old - 50 - and white - but I did go to the oddly incongruous Woodrow Wilson High.

When Mr. Ragland asked Mr. Blow today if he ever had a black teacher, I was taken aback. I mean who could go through life (HP isn't life) without a teacher who is not your color?

I actually had to think about which of my teachers were 'black'.

Funny thing, I see them as Margaret Walker (recently deceased), Lucious Newhouse and Verlene White (yes she's black) not as a 'black teacher'.

It's the same with my friends of different colors - I just see them, not their color.

So maybe some of us old white guys have made some progress.

Heywood, it wasn't Schutze's entry.

Robert,

"Neurological" implies that racism is part of the brain structure - which in many ways it is. The ability to categorize is fundamental to life: even microbes have to be able to categorize between "food" and "non-food." However, I (and I think most professionals in the field) tend to reserve that adjective for phenomena that physical (electro-chemical) in nature.

It's a little like saying that a computer's circuitry won't let you rename a file while the file is open: it's not the hardware, it's the software.

(Some) racism may well be neurological, but it would probably be so for everyone, not just old white guys.

Actually, it is a Schutze entry. He just forgot to byline it. 'Tis fixed. I am not this eloquent or thoughtful.

Everyone's a riddle bit lacist.

The video was pretty amusing, can't wait for the next episode where Blow comments to Ragland "you don't look like a typical black person".

Y'all lay off poor Steve. He likes Will Smith movies, is able to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and knows in which month Juneteenth is celebrated.

Besides, some of his best friends are black.

--A black community leader in Dallas told me once about a program in the 1960s in which white churches met with black churches for open-ended dialogues about race. She said all the black people always went home furious and finally decided not to do it any more. The kinds of things that white people said -- “Why aren’t you more like us?” “What’s with that mumbo-jumbo?” -- really invited only one answer: “Why are you whites such goddamned idiots?” And you couldn’t say that in church.--

Yeah, I'm sure it went down EXACTLY like that. Is this guy really a journalist? Granted, it's the Observer, but still...

Steve Blow is horrible, but so is Jim Schutze. Both of these guys need to go back to the shallow end and argue about tollways or local ordinances or whatever.

Naming your kid "Sheniqua" or "Kwame" or "Anfernee" is moronic. You might as well just name them "Food Stamps." Same goes for white people who name their kids "Misty" or "Destiny."

I grew up in white Oak Cliff. I never thought about races or colors because the older and wiser parents must have effected that perspective by living where there were only whites. Even when we lived in the projects,once known as "Cement City", and had the white dust from the Portland Cenent Plant power us every day, I never remember seeing someone of color. It wasn't something we dwelled upon. We I was older,we were much more concerned with Viet Nam, Nixon, Communism,and the Berlin wall. While we noticed the disappearance of the "white only" rest rooms and water fountains, I never knew anything about why and never asked. I never remember riding the street cars or city buses with anyone of color. Perhaps the church had a great deal to do with color blindness. Honestly, it's been more obvious to me in the past 30 years or so that it seems much has been made of the serperatists.Race relations are better today than maybe ten years ago, but I still have problems with African-Americans when they "Uncle Tom" the boss and Hispanics when they behave like whites are superior and whites who think they are superior. Then again, I was "white trash" because we were so poor and I think I could always relate to being "not as good".

Someone should ask writer Elvis Mitchell how he feels about being named after a white guy who blatantly ripped off an African-American art form.

And what's up with all of the Mexican males named Jesus? How are you ever gonna live up to that name?

It's been quite a while since I've seen such a textbook example of white liberal guilt. I feel sorry for folks like Jim, who no matter how many mea culpa articles like this they write, will be forever stained with the original sin of whiteness.

Imagine the uproar if an article appeared with the title "What's Up With All Those Black People Asking Stupid Questions?" Yet Jim's article for the most part gets a chorus of "forgive me father, for I am white" in response.

And yes, Steve Blow is an idiot most of the time, but fortunately not all white males are Steve Blow.

Just let everyone know the approved names, reality, and we'll
get on with our lives.

Religion: I love it when people accuse white liberals of having guilt complexes. Of the Germans, which kind are more admirable in your view -- with or without guilt? How about ax-murderers: do you prefer the kind who are untouched by guilt? Let me ask you somehting: what is the appropriate sentiment concerning centuries of racist oppression? Pride?

Comparing descendants of slave owners/Nazis to actual ax murderers? Really? Does this guy not understand how an analogy is supposed to work?

"Let me ask you somehting: what is the appropriate sentiment concerning centuries of racist oppression? Pride?"

Fallacy of the excluded middle much?

If you don't already know what the "approved" names are, there's really no helping you.

"Religion: I love it when people accuse white liberals of having guilt complexes. Of the Germans, which kind are more admirable in your view -- with or without guilt? How about ax-murderers: do you prefer the kind who are untouched by guilt? Let me ask you somehting: what is the appropriate sentiment concerning centuries of racist oppression? Pride?"

Quite possibly the dumbest thing ever written on this blog.

I like how the horribly constructed analogy dovetails nicely with the excluded-middle gaffe. I'm guessing this guy never took a course in college called "Logic."

Jim, I enjoy the Germans who can sit on my ottoman and watch an episode of "Hogans Heroes" and laugh.

"Our kids, meanwhile -- his and mine -- will do much better."

Worst constructed sentence in the history of journalism? I'll have to check the archives for this "writer" to be sure, but I'm leaning toward yes.

Jim, in my understanding, guilt is something that one feels due to one's personal responsibility for doing something wrong. I am not guilty of having owned slaves, denying them the write to vote, burning crosses, etc. Should all African-Americans feel guilty about what their distant ancestors did to each other in Africa? Should all Jewish Americans feel guilty because in Old Testament times, gays were stoned to death? What's the statute of limitations on this stuff?

btw, I personally know an elderly German-American who has a serious guilt complex about WWII, and let me tell you, all that it's done is screw them up. It won't bring back one dead American, Jew, Russian, etc.

And it's a false dichotomy to suggest that the choice is between guilt and pride. The proper sentiment is to regret that those things happened, which is not the same thing as a feeling of guilt or culpability. to put it another way, are you saying that the children of murderers should bear guilt for something that their parent did when they were two years old?

JimS- I love it when white liberals get up on their cross- the sentiment for centuries of racist oppression is to be appalled at what others have done in the past. Guilt for what one has not done is self indulgent.

So merely being white puts you on par with Nazis and ax-murderers, Jim? Unless a person has a history of wrongdoing, which in this case would be racism, why should they feel guilt?

Maybe it's because you are older and feel a strong sense of guilt by association having lived in a much more racist world that you feel this way.

Guilt and pride are not the only two feelings white people can feel in regards to race.

Did I actually write "the write to vote?" ok, now I feel guilty.

Perhaps a more accurate analogy would be if white flight participants feel guilty. I'm guessing not -- their heaven is Highland Park and their hell is Richardson and Irving where the sell-by date has expired. Wither Plano?

Great post, it's a shame that most of the comments that have been left only further Schutze's point- but I doubt any of the people who left them even realize that.

this is amazing. most of the people voting are too blind to see that they are furthering the point of said article..

so much ignorance.

so texan

This one is for you!

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/gift.html

Schutze, how about "None of the above"? How about a sentiment of "I didn't do it, so it doesn't concern me"?

I guess Jim then has a problem with Bill Cosby who has also questioned the weird names that black 'parents' have inflicted on their children

"Then he attacked African American naming traditions, and the style of dress among young blacks: “Ladies and gentlemen, listen to these people. They are showing you what’s wrong … What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans. They don’t know a damned thing about Africa— with names like Shaniqua, Shaligua, Mohammed, and all that crap, and all of them are in jail.”"
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200805/cosby

Where did all these frickin' conservatives come from??? This is the Observer blog, for Chrissakes.

Man, give those white folks a poke and they sure do scream.
Two forces are potent in morality -- pride and shame. They go together like a horse and carriage. Can't have one without the other. So I will pose my question again. All these folks who want to take black people to task and stick up for white people must think of themselves as white people. So, as white people examining the history of white people, what's it gonna be on racism? Pride? Shame? Or more weaseling?

How come Bill Cosby gets so much flack when he points out problems with Black culture

Ah, so now Jim's falling back on the old "the fact that you're heatedly arguing with me proves my point, therefore I don't have to rebut any of your specific points" tactic. Nice try.

Robert, I think we must use this oportunity to advance the cause of philosophy an inch. I have an experiment in mind. I challenge Religion et.al. to respond to this question: name one thing -- any single thing -- in white history that white people can be proud of. That's step one.

I agree with ROB this time.

And FWIW, I really don't care what people name their kids. If anything, I'm FAR more annoyed at the people who pick names in the top 10 most popular. Enough with the Hannahs, folks. It's not original anymore.

Jim, I'm not "sticking up for white people" and I'm certainly not "sticking it to the black people". I just find it bizarre that you should feel such guilt for being white when you are not a racist. Likewise, I find it bizarre that some people feel pride in being a "white" person. I don't feel anything in regards to my race and I presume most "white" people don't either.

But if you're going to ask, I guess the founders of our country were white and they created the Constitution, which protects your right to publish this nonsense.

Jim, you seem to be a lot better at asking questions than answering them.

One person that I am close to is an Asian person who grew up in Asia and only had seen a handful of black people until moving to the US as an adult. However, this person, who has an Asian name and did not "grow up white in a racist society", has the exact same feelings towards these funky black names although thinks the names like Preston and Forest are equally stupid.

Also, my best friend is black. And he'd be the first person to just shake his head and sigh at your article. He'd tell you that there is just as much black-on-white racism as the other way around. The only difference is that there are more white people. This is why I may be liberal and don't have white guilt - I've been discriminated against by black people.

Jim, your question has an underlying fault. One of the core problems in this country is that many black people (fortunately, not my friend) identify themselves as black first and have built their identity that way. Most whites, latinos, asians, etc do not build their identity around their race. We do not have a "white history" as you call it.

One thing to be proud of? in all of white history? Well, how about the printing press? Stopping Hitler (before he killed ALL the jews).

Sick of the Hannahs and Madisons here, too. Still, when it is time to get a job, little Hannah and Madison are going to be more likely to get an interview based on their resumes alone than the Shaniquas of the world. It's not fair, but it is true. I don't know that it is racism, though. I did not name Knottybaby to ensure future success, but I guarantee you that the name that Mr. Knottygirl and I chose won't have anyone doing a double-take, wondering if that could possibly be the right spelling, or wondering how to pronounce it. That is a gift every parent can give his or her child, no matter what race. I once knew a girl named "Leishia" who pronounced it "Lisa" and got really mad when substitute teachers mispronounced it. She was white, by the way, as were all the Angelias (pronounced Angela) and Mistys and Candis, who I bet had their resumes put on the same pile with the Shaniquas. Names matter. Period.

Well, Robert, let's sort through the net here and see what we caught. Matt K. tells us, "I guess the founders of our country were white and they created the Constitution." GeorgeT tells us his best friend is black, he knows an Asian person, he's been discriminated against by black people, but, "Most whites, latinos, asians, etc do not build their identity around their race." Uh, GeorgeT, face it: you build your identity around your race. Michael in LH tells us, "One thing to be proud of? in all of white history? Well, how about the printing press? Stopping Hitler (before he killed ALL the jews)."
So here's the thing, gang. This is what the experiment is about. If you self-identify as white, and if you want to establish a connection between yourself and the good things in white history, then you can't deny your connection to the bad things. You can't say, "I didn't do nuthin'!" You have taken possession of your ethnic identity and the history of that identity, which, by the way, is probably a good thing in the long run. But you can't pick and choose. If you own any of the history, you own all of the history. You need to summon a little bit of moral courage and respnsibility here. So I will ask my question a third time: what sentiment do you feel about the brutal, primitive, tribal element in white American history -- that thing we call white racism? I'm not talking about somebody insulting GeorgeT at a soccer game. I'm talking about slavery. I'm talking about Jim Crow. I'm talking about lynchings that your great-grandparents took their children to see, where they all laughed and ate popcorn while innocent black men were tortured to death before their eyes. Old granny you got a picture of somewhere: she was one of those laughin' children. I just want to know what you feel about that part of your history. Pride? Or shame? And maybe by now even Religion will summon the balls to answer.

Knottygirl: solution to problem with resumes and names? Fewer white people doing the hiring.

I don't feel anything in regards to my race and I presume most "white" people don't either.

Uh oh, this was probably the answer to Jim's trick question/article that he was hoping for. You see, the fact that you don't realize you're a racist "proves" that you're a racist.

This whole thing reminds me of the episode of South Park where they're in Afghanistan:

Afghani kid: One third of the world hates you [America]!

Stan (or maybe it was Kyle): Why does one third of the world hate us?

Afghani kid: Because you don't even realize that one third of the world hates you!

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

Jim, have you stopped beating your wife yet?

I gotta admit, you white and black people are crazy. Brown people? For the most part, we don't understand why everyone's so upset. Fix the roads, fix our schools, eat some tacos and get over it people.

Strap on the crash helmet and gas up the Kawasaki, Jim. We'll set up the shark tank and ramp for you.

while us "white people" are feeling guilty for 1800s slavery, let's throw in raping and pillaging the native americans, locking asians away during ww2...what else am I missing here...

Point is: yeah, all that stuff sucked, but I personally had nothing to do with it. I think its beyond despicable, but I'm not going to go up to my multi ethnic/cultural group of friends and apologize for things that I didnt do...they'd just look at me funny. Lumping all white people in a group is just further advancing racial stereotypes.

Playing the race card, regardless of what deck you're dealing from, is pointless.

I was born 9 months before JFK was killed here. My parents and my brother lived in Arcadia Park at the time. It was 1963. We moved to Alaska St. in Oak Cliff for the next 3 years then East Dallas for the next 15. It was a constant move away from black people. That was my parents response to "the threat" of our education.

I am a DISD kid, Kiest, Gaston and Bryan Adams. Texas A&M and SMU Law. I have a test for any white boy in Dallas, any newcomer to the City and how they feel about themselves and the future.

How many desciptives do you have for the following racial slur: Nigger

You have to search your soul and ask yourself why did we all, I mean all of us learned:

N rigging
N Knocking
N Lipping
N Town
N Weekend
N Kid
N this, and N that.

Unfortunatley, the list goes on. Why? Because that was the reality of life in Dallas when I was growing up here.

While Steve Blows, and James Rags, it is time to understand the reality of where we all came from and work for the future. My Daughter will never here those words from my mouth, never be allowed to think in those terms. That is a small victory, but it is important.

She may hear it from others, some "white" and some "black". It is a choice for those people to make, who remain ignorant of the fact that we are all here now; empowered to create a great city without the burden of the past.

Ron Kirk was the best Mayor Dallas has ever had. Laura Miller was next. John Price may be the best Commisioner we have ever had because he refuses to do anything that doesn't help his constiuency.

Tom Leppert is on the clock, and so are Mitchell and Angela.

Peace to you and yours.

I believe it was I.M.Reese (noted white male) who first mixed chocolate and peanut butter

Racial conversations are so charged. I grew up in South Alabama. People died for registering to vote not 40 miles from my house. My entire childhood was spent in a segregated cocoon. I was taught to be a bigot (as was every white person I knew). The biggest single challenge to that racism was when I first spent time with black kids, for me that was in boy scouts. After that the racist assumptions of my childhood starting falling like a deck of cards. Earlier this year I was an Obama delegate. That's just one man's example of what is going on. We forget that it was within my generation (i turn 52 later this month) that one of the most violent periods of racist violence took place. People were shot, tortured, jailed in my state, in my lifetime. Just to get to vote. Did I do that? No, but I think it's a mistake to talk about this as if it were distant history like slavery. Jim, as much as I respect you as a writer (and I do), I don't have the same reaction as you to Steve Blow and James Ragland's conversation. Maybe they aren't asking the questions you'd ask, but at least they are taking the risk of talking. As did you, with this post. Thanks for keeping the conversation going.

JimS says:
Knottygirl: solution to problem with resumes and names? Fewer white people doing the hiring.

**************

Well, yes, that will help the Shaniquas and A'Quanellas and Duwaiynes, but what will help the little Destinys and Mistys? It's white folks who tend to saddle their kids with those particular names, and while the children themselves may be delightful and whip-smart, their names bring to mind Dairy Queen waitresses or strippers. They may absolutely knock everyone dead and get hired on the spot once they get a job interview at a large accounting firm, but getting that interview may be a bit harder for them.

I am reminded of a playground game from elementary in the small farming community I grew up in (where there were no black kids). It was a variation on Red Rover - in our version, all the kids lined up on one side of the playground and ran to the other side, except for those who were "it", whose job it was to tag/tackle someone running across. Those caught became "it" and remained in the middle of the field while everyone else ran back to the other side. The game continued until you had a 50 or 60 against one situation, where the last man standing was subject to high abuse from the 50/60 man mob.

The name of the game? Blackman - and it wasn't until I got to college and was around black people for the first time in my life that I was able to look back on this game and understand how it took its name and what it implied.

-- kerry --

Jim, you are so sure you are right and not listening to anybody else's viewpoints. I feel sorry that you are locked into the neverending cycle of racism and your path offers no way out of it.

To answer your question: I agree 100% with Brett. As far as pride/shame about events before my birth, I feel nothing whatsoever. Anybody who does really had a guilt trip laid upon them.

The clinging to the past is the source of much of the world's troubles (not just in the US). Should we all be looking for long ago slights from all of recorded history? You are saying yes. If so, we can ALL find cases where some of our ancestors were slaves, falsely imprisoned, tortured, etc.

It is upon each race and person to move on when the time is right. If they don't, there is no way to reduce racism. Jim, this is your call to do the same.

when I named my kids 'Pride' and 'Shame' it seemed like a good idea.

At the risk of irritating even myself, I must disagree with GeorgeT. We are products of our history. Much of our history is grand and noble. Our morality is a product of our history, not of our own immediate invention. We should cling to our history, understand and honor it. But in doing so, we have to deal with the bad as well as the good, the bitter with the sweet. We can't survive on apple pie alone, GeorgT. That would rot our moral teeth. We need to gnaw those bones, too.

If you remove the race element, I think all of the huffing and puffing here is about people defending/promoting their individuality. To paraphrase, "You think wrong. Here's how I think. You should think like me."

This is our pampered, text-messaging society running rampant. This is us losing the concept of community as we withdraw into our individual little videogame perspectives.

When we think about a community, we can focus on what makes us the same, not what makes us different. Then we pool our resources and work for those things that benefit the community.

Or we sit here and beat each other up trying to recreate Fox News.

Gorgeous college bound Shaniqua? Shaniqua probably had 3 kids by age 16 and never made it out of high school.

Very good article! Kudos!

One thing white people can be proud of? I'm pretty sure we invented mayonnaise...maybe.

I can't really comment on this thread because unlike most apologetic white guys I don't "have lots of black friends". Of course I only have one friend so the odds weren't good. Until that one friend slot is filled by a Jewish, Black lesbian who is in the country illegally, then I'm kind of left out of a lot of these Diversity Training discussions.

Well did you see Mr. Blow calls Mr. Ragland a 'brother' today??!!

Bruce Morrow had a good post although those of us whites on the west side of White Rock Lake thought those on the east side were a touch 'redneck' or even in some cases, 'W.T.' (ok some of that is school rivalry). So we have our own divisions. But I only heard three of those N - prefixed aspersions (and I had East Texas ancestry - one side used the N word; the other didn't).

The difference is that his family was running and the East Dallas/Lakewood families mostly stayed. So we had our different starting places, and we discovered that yes, there is racism from all races -- but we had our conversations about such starting on the playground.

Mr. Blow had to wait until he is nearly eligible for Social Security, hence the gaffes which make some of us wince.

East of White Rock and West is an interesting distinction. By the way, I do notice that my kid and his white friends who went to Woodrow are way more comfortable with people of other ethnicities than white folks my age, but they also take way less crap from them. Something about everybody knowing everybody else's game.

What the hell is up with the "Misty" bashing? It may be a stereotype, even a widely held one, that girls named Misty must be strippers or the daughters of LSD-crazed hippies, but I can assure you it's never affected my private or professional life in any way. The LaDarians and Shakeenahs of the world sadly could not say the same, solely for the reason that Jim provided.

More on topic...I think we all should feel at least a tinge of guilt when we note that all of the ghettos of this country are filled with blacks, and that our prisons include disproportionate amounts of black prisoners, because we must all realize that these facts are the remnants of a racist and segregated past that could have been addressed but never were...or addressed indirectly enough that it wouldn't cause any of the white population to feel uncomfortable about the reality their society had created and nursed. We all have an ownership stake in this society, and shame belongs to each of us when it fails. When it fails a particular, identifiable segment of society, the shame should be overwhelming, and the call to rectify the wrongs more alarming. Instead, we move away, we close our collective eyes, and we say that it's not our problem because we had no stake in the past. Ignoring that we have a stake in the present and the future.

So white people shouldn't talk about black people? I dunno. One of the best books I've ever read about blacks (and whites) in Dallas is something called The Accomodation. When I first got to Dallas 20 years ago, it helped me understand something of how the city had got to where it was at that point. The author was a white guy, as I recall. Some fellow name of Schutze...

JimS- yes we are products of our history. So we learn from it and move on. I might regret what my ancestor's did but why in the world would i feel guilty? Behavior is what counts, guilt is just pulling you pud.

I winced yet again this morning when Blow went on about being colorblind and not noticing people were a different ethnicity/color. I'm coming at this from a middle class white male Gen X point of view, but that seems a tad offensive to me.

I think what Blow is trying to say is that he sees someone's humanity rather than a label when he really knows them. But when a white guy says something like that, it sounds like he's saying that he can disregard race because race is a barrier. Well, race is an important component of who we are culturally, and it's OK to recognize it and try to make it less of a barrier, but it's not OK to pretend it doesn't exist.

In reading this series I feel like Blow needs to be doing a lot more listening and less typing.

Who said this recently? I laughed out loud. It was a black woman, in the news for something. She said, "If you don't see color, you need to see a doctor."
Whenever a white guy tells me he's color-blind, I figure he needs to pull the sheet off his head.

Of course everyone sees color but the longer you have a friend, the less you see it.

My ancestry is German/Osage Indian. Talk about a weird mix! So, let me think.....when the Germans came to Texas they made the only treaty with Indians that was never broken. Also, they disagreed with slavery, and they did not have a hand in the Nazi regime. Hmm, so nope, I don't feel regret, shame nor guilt for my German heritage, I'm quite proud of it.

Now for the Osage part, they were just tyrants! I don't think they had any allies and everyone feared them because they raped and pillaged everyone else all the time. And stupid too! After the reorganization act, and oil was discovered on the res in the '20s, they went around buying Rolls Royce's and fur coats....now they're broke and poor and make money from their own with the casino they run. I guess maybe I feel a tinge of regret for THAT particular piece of my hertiage.

equating names and success without considering all other factors, is a fallacy of enormous proportions.

a good excerpt from Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner:
A Roshanda by Any Other Name: How do babies with super-black names fare?

I'm very sorry that some of my ancestors, none of whom I ever met, may or may not have done horrible things to some other peoples' ancestors, none of whom they ever met.

I'm fairly certain that none of my ancestors ever owned slaves. My paternal grandparents same over on the boat from Ireland early last century. My maternal great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather (yes, that's 10 generations ago) fought in the Continental Army under George Washington, and the family later spread throughout the Midwest and New England.

Am I proud of my family's history? Absolutely.

Would I feel ashamed if things were different, and my family had been plantation owners? Probably.

Should either of those things influence how I behave towards other people, regardless of race? Definitely not.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to naught.

Schutze your full of Schitz. Whites are no more guilty of being bigots than blacks. You can slice and dice it anyway you want, but in the end it comes down to that simple fact.

What's with this "white history" crap. You want white history, I'll give you a slice. The Irish, Scottish, and Welsh were being picked on, abused, murdered, indentured, marginalized, and so on before your average Anglo-saxon knew how to get to Africa.

Have many whites, even the majority of whites in decades past, been horrible, oppressive pricks? Yes.

By the same token, many whites have family tree full of ten victims for every perpetrator.

Of course, these days, any shade of white stands a chance in our society- so we can't complain. Even dumb Micks like me can make a decent living.

And yes, the system still screws people of color, and yes we need to fix that. Anyone who denies modern racism is an idiot.

But the hand-ringing guilt over the sins of the past is a waste of time. Let's get our act together, get the best and brightest minds of every shade of skin around a table, and fix a few things.

In other words, give us real community dialog with practical applications.

But enough of this empty, sensationalized, self-indulgent kind of "inner-racial" dialog offered up here. It isn't doing anyone any good.

Misty says:
What the hell is up with the "Misty" bashing? It may be a stereotype, even a widely held one, that girls named Misty must be strippers or the daughters of LSD-crazed hippies, but I can assure you it's never affected my private or professional life in any way.
*************

I apologize, Misty. I feel strongly about names, and for my examples, I was choosing the names that people I grew up with had. I knew a few Mistys, and as far as I know, none of them ended up dancing with a pole. I still would guess that a Melissa or a Jordan might get first dibs on an interview over you and your fellow Mistys, but if you say that is not true, I believe you (and am glad to hear it).

Can Mr. Blow ask Mr. Ragland why Blacks thinks it looks good to wear their pants down and hold them up with one hand?

I love being white. It's not always easy, though. Sometimes, when I'm out eating Chinese, the waiter will bring me a fork instead of a nice pair of chopsticks. Even worse, sometimes when I go out for Mexican, the waiter will bring a big bottle of ranch dressing when none is called for. It really makes me wonder what year we live in.

Bruce-

I TOTALLY KNOW!!!! The last time I ate Chinese, I went with my best friend, who is black, and I looked around the room and all the Chinese people there had chopsticks and we had forks. I told Leo, "Look, at all the Chinese people with chopsticks. They only give forks to white people", and she responded, "I'm not white", and I said, "Well, maybe they didn't notice".....

I'm a latecomer to this little party, but I'm not going to let that deter me from crashing it.

So much of the comments section seems to have utterly missed Schutze's point. But Spectator came very close in writing:

"If you remove the race element, I think all of the huffing and puffing here is about people defending/promoting their individuality. . . .

"This is our pampered, text-messaging society running rampant. This is us losing the concept of community as we withdraw into our individual little videogame perspectives.

"When we think about a community, we can focus on what makes us the same, not what makes us different. Then we pool our resources and work for those things that benefit the community."

I think this - we're a community and we need to uplift one another as a community - is a flip side to Schutze's thesis, which I understand to be: we live in a culture infected, deeply infected, with racism. That infection is in all of us. I'm sick, you're sick, religion of bacon is sick, Sheniqua is sick, Blow is sick, Schutze is definitely sick and knows it. It's impossible not to be sick with racism in the U.S. in 2008. Why? Because of how we got to 2008.

Schutze isn't talking about bigotry. So a remark like "black people are just as racist as white people" is a non-sequitur. Even worse, it obscures what's important. Sure, black people are sick with racism just as white people are. But the disease affects blacks and whites differently. How? In grossly general terms, whites benefit from racism, blacks don't.

That's what Schutze is talking about, I think, when he says it's important to understand how we got here, and why he's asking about "white history." It's one of the first steps in learning about ourselves and our place in this racially sick culture. Until we recognize the disease in us and how, pardon the pun, it colors how we see the world and the people in it, we aren't going anywhere.

I'm a white male and I experience racism every day. Indeed, I continue to benefit from it every day. A minor but illustrative way: No one follows me around the local SuperTarget waiting to catch me shoplifting, and they don't ask to see my receipt when I walk out with stuff in my hands.

I'm racist. The question isn't whether I should feel proud or ashamed of that racism. That would be like asking if I should be ashamed to have cancer. To be sure, it's important to understand the cancer and its causes - I shouldn't smoke, chew tobacco, lay in tanning beds five times a week, sleep on uranium, etc., just as I shouldn't eat popcorn and cheer while a black man is hung from a tree. But if I have a disease, I have a disease. And it won't do me or anyone else any good to refuse to acknowledge that I'm sick.

Spectator is right that the cure for the disease must be communal. Because, after all, it's a communal disease. I can't eradicate it from myself while it continues in my community. It's there. I'm there.

The question isn't pride or guilt. The question is whether to acknowledge our racism and that it infects each and every one of us. I think the obvious answer is yes. But that's the easy part . . . .