I am referring to the original post by the same woman. I just wanted to say a few things I think about the general subject of racism.
1. Race is a reality. I know that when I look at a person, I gauge the person's race. I am an Indian, and I look at people as Chinese, American/Caucasian, Mexican, Black etc. Race is a reality just like there are different types of cats or dogs there are different types of human beings. You cannot neglect or ignore race.

2. Blacks have been oppressed in the US and elsewhere. They still have lower median salaries than the whites, and fare badly on all the scales of quality of life - education, job, etc etc. The truth is that they are behind. I don't know who is at fault. Mostly I think the fault is the society they live in. Coming from a broken home, a bad neighborhood, without family support, it is extremely difficult to succeed in life. The only way they can move ahead in life is through education and they do not receive it because of environmental factors. Those who do are able to excel. But most don't

3. That then creates a need for employment - and without education the only job you can get is not going to uplift any of the quality of life scales. If you work in a low paying job then you are too exhausted to just provide for your family to have the time to do other things. Also, without education, you have a good chance of becoming a criminal. Many blacks end up as criminals, and the general public, noticing that so many of them are criminals, begin to be wary of them as a whole. It just like Muslims. Not all muslims are terrorists. But since most terrorists are muslims, people equate muslim to terrorism. Its sad, but its human psychology.

4. The question of black pride - well have pride in who you are. But pride is a cardinal sin. If you are proud of who you are keep it to yourself. I am a proud Indian. This makes me do things like help other Indians, it makes me proud when I present my work somewhere to remember that I am representing my country there and that everyone sitting in that room recognizes the fact that I am Indian and so I cannot f*** up. The same should apply if you are black, Hispanic or any other race. Like it or not, when you were born with your skin color, you became a representative of that race. I did not choose it, but its like patriotism - once you are an American or an Indian, you are proud of that.