The Truth About Race in a Post-Racial Society

Another excellent post about race and racism in the so-called "post-racial society" on Everyday Sociology by a scholar, Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I agree with her that the United States is long overdue a real conversation about race.

One lesson we can take from this is that it is scary for many people to encounter a person of color in this country. Some people have been driven to literally shooting Black people dead, even in situations where these people are in desperate need of our collective care. We are teaching our children that they cannot ask for help, they cannot turn to their neighbor. This also has serious consequences for social mobility and educational attainment; we have known for quite a while now that students who feel alienated are less likely to go as far in education....I fear that each and every time that something like these doorstep shootings occur, it sends a signal to communities of color that they are less safe in this country. I recently had a conversation with a scholar of color who said that he was afraid to walk his dog too early in the morning for fear of getting shot. We have created an environment where peoples’ everyday freedoms are in question because of their skin color. All this is amidst a so-called “post-racial” society.