Had a friend in college from Ghana who hated the term "African-American" (unless, of course, you immigrated from Africa). As she she always uses to put it, "[i]You are American, not African. Black Americans have more in common with white Americans than black Africans.[/i]"

If only it were that simple. Color blindness isn’t as great a virtue as you might want to think.

Who said anything about being color blind.

[quote] Folks need to understand, you are in America, you are an American, unless you hold dual citizenship or are here temporarily.[/quote] Identity isn’t that simple. History isn’t that simple.

It is exactly that simple. It is only when others go adding to it that it isn't.

When I was a cool, 13-year-old intellectual, I used to think the same way. But it is a [i]far[/i] more complicated issue than just pretending that history doesn’t matter.

History has a place, as in you need to learn from it so you do not make the mistakes that were made. You ask almost any mature adult how they want to be treated & they will say like a human being. You don't look at someone of Hispanic background & say, "This person is a Mexican-American." You stand beside them & tell the dumbass being rude, "Hey, Jorge is an American. Leave him alone." That goes for any race. That goes for any person. You treat them the way [i]you[/i] want to be treated. Maybe one day f3, when you hit 15, you will understand that, but I understand how proud you are to have finally made it to 14.

[quote]To those fixed on white, White is white, To those fixed on black, It is the same, And red is red, Yellow, yellow- Surely there are such sights In the many colored world, Or in the mind. The strange thing is that These people never see themselves Or you, or me. Are they not in their minds? Are we not in the world? This is a curious blindness For those that are color blind. What queer beliefs That men who believe in sights Disbelieve in seers. O people, if you but used Your other eyes You would see beings.[/quote] You’re denying people an important part of their identity for your own sake, so you can say “We’re all American!” and ignore the repercussions of centuries of inequality and systemic prejudice. It’s beyond narrow minded idealism to think that you could so easily wipe the slate clean.

If that is what you got out of what I said, then you failed to grasp what I said. I treat people as my equal. That is what every races has worked towards, being treated as equals. You want to be angry and call me narrow minded for choosing to view people as my equal & not by their race or religion, that is on you and damned childish, but you will either grow out of it or you won't. I don't care who you are. I don't care what you believe. I don't care where you are from. I don't care what your race is. I [b][i][u]CARE[/u][/i][/b] that you are a good person, period. You have an issue with that, that is on you & I will pity you for the chip you have on your shoulder, because you can look to any point in history and see that every race & every religion has been persecuted. Humanity sucks. I am not going to repeat that mistake and blame others, I am going to do what is right & treat everyone as my equal, because they are. I am going to treat others how I want to be treated, right up until they push me too far, then -blam!- it, I will square up & shit will settled.

^this