Some pundits claim that the time has come in our country to get away from "playing the race card." These people claim that the only reason race is an issue is because the main stream media makes in an issue; that our country has evolved to the point where black and white does not matter, that our country truly exists in a racially neutral world of gray. Those who have publicly made these arguments have one thing in common... they are white.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof puts the racial divide in our country into perspective,
"The net worth of the average black household in the United States is $6,314, compared with $110,500 for the average white household, according to 2011 census data. The gap has worsened in the last decade, and the United States now has a greater wealth gap by race than South Africa did during apartheid. (Whites in America on average own almost 18 times as much as blacks; in South Africa in 1970, the ratio was about 15 times.)
• The black-white income gap is roughly 40 percent greater today than it was in 1967.
• A black boy born today in the United States has a life expectancy five years shorter than that of a white boy.
• Black students are significantly less likely to attend schools offering advanced math and science courses than white students. They are three times as likely to be suspended and expelled, setting them up for educational failure."
As a straight white male living in the United States I've never experienced any form of actual racism... but simply because I've not experienced it doesn't mean it does not exist... but I am aware enough to know that for all our country's greatness, we still have a long way to go before enjoying racial harmony.
Thoughts?