America Isn't Colorblind: We Need to Talk About Racism

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/16/america-isn-t-colorblind-we-need-to-talk-about-racism.html

Americans usually avoid talking about racism publicly until it’s unavoidable. It’s time to stop being afraid that we’ll offend someone and have a blunt, rational discussion, writes Errol Louis.

the problem with this is those who have been or have knowledge of racism feel after decades of denial they can't now expose themselves as complicit the very kind of person they have been swearing they aren't, takes guts and the desire to rectify, it's easier to stick tothe age old story "it ain't so. the usual suspects,
"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" and so goes racism, or not.

The jury has spoken in the Trayvon Martin case, rendering a verdict that many find infuriating and unjust. Now it’s time for the rest of the nation to be heard, and the discussion has begun in earnest, online and in churches, at workplaces and in bars, on television and at street protests. 

Across Twitter and other social media, and in a million places in the real world, a national argument has begun over what exactly the killing and trial mean. 

Largely lacking from the discussion, unfortunately, is a clear analysis of where, whether, and how race fits into the case and its aftermath. For all the talk about a new conversation on race in the age of Obama, 

the Zimmerman trial serves as a bitter reminder that Americans, by and large, do not tackle this touchy subject—and when we do, the term of the debate are cramped, unclear, emotionally charged, and unlikely to lead to insight or shared understanding.

but only if Americans can handle the truth.

It’s not that people aren’t trying. The problem is that Americans, wishing to bring about a colorblind society, often end up being colormute—fearful of offending, we simply clam up about race and racism, confining our blunt, not-politically-correct sentiments or questions to small groups of trusted friends and family.

Then, when we attempt a public discussion, participants start out in different mental and moral universes, with almost nothing in the way of shared assumptions, facts, or understanding of how society works. It’s a formula for conversational disaster, after which people decide it’s better to keep their mouths shut—remaining colormute in a society that desperately needs a rational conversation about race.

this in most cases IMO are unconsciously driven to that point of perceived hopelessness as a safety spot that allows the discourse to die out and each get to blame the other of intolerance to their side, which it you look at it that is what they are there to rectify, blindness in a strange room causes you to trip and fall as many times as there are obstacles. recognize  remove or admit the obstacles and they can no longer make you fall.