For the first time in my lifetime a black man is running for president, and frankly I'm a bit discouraged.
But not for the reasons you think.
It has nothing to do with his credentials (he has plenty) or his lack of experience in the world of politics (which, by the way, isn't necessarily a bad thing given that all previous presidents had years of practice in political mudslinging, and look at the mess we're in now).
Still, I can't help but wonder.
While Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy reminds us that hope is always audacious, his possible win could further turn our country into a post-race thinking society.
I can hear the masses now: "See, racism doesn't exist we elected a black president."
It would become something of a domino effect thereafter.
Affirmative action. Gone.
College scholarships based on race. Gone.
Race-based programs. Gone.
All of it. Gone.
And for those thinking that the aforementioned programs are unnecessary in the first place, you couldn't be more wrong. Until the playing field is completely leveled, race-based programs are very much needed.
Point, blank, period.
This post-race thinking serves to discount our respective histories, cultures and traditions. The very backbone of our nation. Our very foundation.
The moment we, Americans -- black, white, brown, yellow and red -- stop dialoguing about race, we begin to take a step backward.
To a considerable extent (arguably a huge extent) post-race thinking exists already.
Maybe you've heard of it. It's called white privilege -- which describes the societal advantages enjoyed by whites, and not enjoyed by non-whites in the same social spectrum. A person that benefits from white privilege doesn't necessarily hold racist beliefs, they just benefit from the system.
Former Collegian columnist John Manigaulte once branded it: "the Goliath."
Meredith Kearney (senior-public relations) said she believed we had a long road ahead in eliminating the kind of thinking white privilege enables.
"I don't think it's ever going away," she said.
However, she believes Barack and Hillary's candidacy is central in helping to rid of this problem.
"It would be a step forward in eliminating that type of thinking," she said.
Whether whites realize it or not, they directly, and indirectly, benefit from white privilege. There is no argument there.
"Like everything else, white privilege is very complex," Sam Richards, sociology professor and Race Relations Project co-director, said. "It's easy to see it and it's easy to deny it."
The beneficiaries of this structural system often suffer from thinking racism is non-existent. As if it died when Jim Crow did.
Throughout my four years I've had plenty white classmates tell me racism doesn't exist anymore.
THIS JUST IN: Racism is alive and well, and Happy Valley doesn't suffer from it in any disproportionate fashion.
The only solution to this dilemma is a mutual understanding on both parts. A truce of sorts.
Author James Baldwin once said, "I suppose, the most difficult (and most rewarding) thing in my life has been the fact that I was born a Negro and was forced, therefore, to effect some kind of truce with this reality. (Truce, by the way, is the best one can hope for.)"
Let's discuss race. Let's discuss inequality. Let's discuss injustice. Let's not run away from reality.
Richards disagreed, saying he believed dialogue wouldn't necessarily transcend race, but instead become commonplace if Obama was to win the presidency.
"I see us having more complex conversations about race and class," he said. "How could we not?"
I'm calling for a truce and opening the floor for discussion.
Let me begin: Hi, my name is Jason and I want change.
