Not Afraid to Talk About Race - NYTimes.com: Hey, I heard that: “Oh no, the black columnist is writing about race, again.”
Yes, I am. Deal with it. The moment we allow ourselves to be browbeaten out of having important discussions about issues that persist, we cease to command the requisite conviction to wield the pen — or to peck on a keyboard, but you get my drift.
Varying political views among racial and ethnic groups are real.
They have always informed our politics, and no doubt they will continue to do so. The idea, naively held by many, that the election of the first black president would nullify racial grievances, bridge racial differences and erase racial animosities has quickly faded. We find ourselves once again trying to wrestle with the meaning and importance of race in our politics.
In fact, one could argue that examinations of racial attitudes in politics have become more fraught as racial motives, political objectives, and accusations and denials of racism and reverse-racism serve as a kind of subterfuge hiding resentments and prejudices.
