Letters to the Editor
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Here we go again.
The lazy liberal, unwilling to actually confront racism, however one does such a thing, blames it on the black folks. The (presumably white) commentator rejoices that enlightened blacks no longer see themselves as black, and no longer identify with "the underclass". This is what he calls an encouraging sign of progress.
In keeping with the popular fashion of "color blindness" the author does not "see" race, and blames black people for not sharing his blindness. For Kamiya and many whites who subscribe to this way of thinking, "race" is something black people invented and cling to for their own reasons and to their own detriment. Hence it is cause for rejoicing when the scales fall from the eyes of the more uplifted among them.
That's utter, ahistorical nonsense. While there is no scientific basis for "race", it's not imaginary or a myth either. Race is very much a reality --- purely a social construct invented by whites for their own reasons. The "one drop rule" for instance, was promulgated by slavemasters who wanted the freedom to sell their own children by slave mothers, not by black leaders trying to expand their flock.
If race was not a real and significant factor in American life, how do Kamiya and others explain US racial disparity in incarceration rates, which ranges from two or three to one in Mississippi to to eight to one in Illinois, twelve to one in New Jersey?
Race in America is a white problem, caused by whites and inflicted upon the rest of us. Kamiya is rejoicing at the disappearance of that which he, in his white privilege, can choose to ignore.
The only encouraging thing about Kamiya's awful article was the reader reactions, who uniformly disagreed with him.