I get asked why I am so focused on race. They say: Why don’t you let things go because there has been so much racial progress? (Arguably yes, since people of color can no longer be owned like chattel.) I even get called a racist and told I fan the flames of hatred by writing about race. And then I learn about a white kid (his race is relevant to this story) who hurled the N-word at a group of African-American students. Or someone confuses me with another African-American columnist, because we all …. well you know. And then I come across stories like this one on philly.com about a fired football coach in Camden, N.J. who says he was asked to put more white players on the field. Um, you can’t ignore this stuff. And I won’t.
