I hate to be the bearer of bad news but "real racism" exists today. It might not be as overt as it was before but as a woman of color, I can attest that it most certainly exists.
What you're complaining about is people pulling the race card. That also works both ways. I've encountered white people who have assumed or flat out accused me of only succeeding because of affirmative action or white liberal guilt. Considering I've never knowingly taken a job to be the token women of color or gotten anything handed to me without working for it, that's a false assumption and accusation.
I'll admit there are people of color who do pull the race card too quickly at times but there are also white people who silently do the same and can't fathom that a non-white person can accomplish things without government handouts.
Racism will always exist. Even if everyone was the same color, there would still be prejudice of some kind because that's how humans are. Instead of getting pissy about it and complaining that you're not racist, just stop thinking in terms of race and distance yourself from the people who can't look past skin color.
Pointing out what you think is "real" racism is, at best, mildly annoying because it's clear you have no idea what the hell still goes on in the world.
Point taken, and I respect your opinion on the matter. However, you don't know me from a hole in the wall and that I'm quite aware of what's going on in the world, from both my own experiences and my academic background. Also let me say flat out that I should of said: LESS racism exists than years ago - and not JUST because I don't know what it's like to be black). BTW, I totally get what you're saying about Affirmative Action, which is one reason I'm against it, in most cases. I would HATE IT is people assumed that I wasn't a school or got a job on my merit, so I think those in favor of AA, (based on race) are doing people of color a great disservice and it's patronizing. At a time it was needed, but no longer - at least the way it's still structured. IMO, it should be based solely on one's parents SES - not race - and how bad their school district is, whether inner city or out in the rural areas, where there are many poor white kids) whether the person is black, white or blue.
Now, as I wrote in my prior post, I am Jewish, and growing up in the 70s/80s, my family was a victim of minor anti-Semitism (and I say minor, because it wasn't like my family was dragged off to the death camps). But growing up in a %95 lily white WASP/Irish Catholic town, as Jews, we weren't allowed to join the country club (no Jews or blacks, even as recently as the 70s/80s - my parents were told there was a 20 yr wait list, which was 'code' for "we don't want your kind." I didn't know it at the time, but our neighbors told my parents that the country club would tell them that there was a 25 year wait list, lol (and the thing that sucked about it for us kids, was that we couldn't go swimming where most of our friends did - my parents made up some story as to why we joined another club, several towns away). Also, though I didn't know it at the time either, one of my friend's fathers couldn't STAND me (I just thought he was a major grump with all of his daughters friends), but years later, my parents told me some of the things he used to say about us to our lovely and accepting Christian friends, who definitely (and thankfully) out-numbered the anti-Semites in town.
And besides that Country Club incident, I did feel a bit of anti-Semitism as an adult, albeit, I can't 'prove' that what I experienced was due entirely to anti-Semitism - it's just a vibe I felt, deep down, when I was teaching HS in a completely non-Jewish district in '05 (including all of the faculty, which was unusual). Now, I don't know for sure, but: A) it was the only job that I was fired from, B) the staff with whom I was friendly, couldn't figure out why I was fired (and I was never given a reason(!!) - under the law, they didn't have to, if the firing occurred within the first 90s days of the school year).
So while I would NEVER compare my experience in present day America to yours, since I know on an intellectual level that what you face is different to what I've faced, as skin color is immediately apparent, unlike being Jewish (esp when you have blonde hair/blue eyes, as I do), I DO understand real 'racism' more than you realized (though it isn't my race, but you get my point), as you I suppose that you assumed that I was white Christian. And again, let me make it clear that the Anti-Semitism my family faced (and my father to a greater degree - long story) isn't nearly as 'in-your-face' as racism.
And lastly, though it's just my opinion, while the Jews make it their mission to never forget the Holocaust, the ones who fled before or during have assimilated quite well to their adopted countries, on the whole (eg America, Canada, Australia, etc., and created their OWN niche, if/when others tried to keep them down). For instance, when my Dad graduated from an Ivy League law school in the early 60s, the only firms who would consider hiring him were the "Jew firms." Very, very few firms comprised of mostly WASPs would hire him (though interestingly, the Jewish firms usually had a 'token' WASP, because some people didn't feel comfortable working with a Jewish lawyer, lol). This kind of discrimination could never happen in today's world, so that was my main point; instead of dwelling on their past, sometimes a particular group has to make their own successes, which the Jews were particularly good at, IMO.
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