If you haven’t read TPot’s latest post (entitled “Who’s Afraid of Big Bad Barack”) go read it, it’s awesome. A lot of people open up sentences with phrases like “I’m not a racist, but…” And even more people scoff at even the mere possibility that something that they said is racist. They say people are oversensitive about racism and in some cases they may be right, but that misses the overall point.

Ever since the Civil Rights Act of 1965, racism has gone underground and out of vogue, and that’s a good thing, but it’s dangerous to think that it has disappeared. An honest look at oneself will almost certainly identify some prejudices and private thoughts that one would never voice, but still affect one’s overall point of view. This passive, dormant racism is at least as dangerous as any less subtle form.

The point is not to think of what “we” are responsible for versus what “they” are responsible for, but to understand how people of other races have arrived at their particular worldview. We have to try to look at things from each other’s point of view and strive for a greater understanding of our collective history to understand what has gotten us to this point.

Sure, it’s not your fault that your great great grandfather had slaves, but the effects of our past have huge effects still today (and not just because anybody is “harboring” anything), and we certainly have to deal with them even if we don’t want to.

So let’s stop thinking in terms of “us” vs “them” and blaming others for creating those divides. Let’s start thinking about how each and every one of us have helped keep those divides alive. Then maybe we can stop being parts of the problem and become parts of the solution.