black.

an ongoing discussion/moment of clarity.

words.

"...here’s the thing: The protest movement that arose last summer grew out of the sense that many in this society see African American lives as disposable. Not really worth caring about. The main focus was on police departments, court systems and the ways in which their interactions with African Americans differed from their interactions with whites.

I believe we’ve paid too little attention to the big picture. There is still a shocking degree of racial segregation in American society — no longer de jure but de facto. Segregation reinforces structural racism, which increasingly is not addressed or even acknowledged. Values such as diversity are almost universally celebrated publicly but not always practiced ­privately.

 ... President Obama said this: “We just need to open our eyes, and our ears, and our hearts to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us.”

Listen with pride to the stirring oratory of the first African American president. But also listen to the frat boys on the bus."

THE WASHINGTON POST: Fraternity boys and the long shadow of racism