Why does everything have to be about race?

Because it is. 

How about a more inclusive stance? You ask, lovingly, with peace/#alllivesmatter/harmony in your heart. 

Here you go: Because it is, until it isn't. 

Before you close this page and refuse to engage (hey, that rhymes..), that question is mine. It is what I asked myself some three, or four or five odd years after living continuously in the USA after having lived 18 years in Zambia. I grew up in Zambia, a small, land locked and peaceful country in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. A former British colony, this is home to the Bantu languages and traditions, to the carbohydrate staple Nshima, to the opening and welcoming arms of a culture that tends to see every person as individuals. 

I recently had a conversation with my Mom as follows: 

Mom: do you have any Black friends? 

Me: 

Mom: ? 

Me: umm, not really. Most of the potential Black friends I know are not quite friends yet - we agree to meet up for coffee, or drinks once in a while and might see each other once every six months, but have never gotten to the stage that we've become friends. 

Mom: that's because you are Zambian 

Me: what do you mean?! [read, what does THAT have to do with ANYTHING?] 

Mom: Zambians tend to see people as individuals, rather than for the color of their skin. In order for you to have Black friends, you would have to [slight pause] make a special effort to seek them out. 

 My Mom is American. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas in 1947. She was brought up through the education system in America, was brought up by black Americans in America, was a part of multiple marches and protests on Civil rights in America and thus has a perspective I do not. 

Until now. 

The person who is able to ask "Why does everything have to be about race?" is one who is blind (willfully, or as in my case, ignorantly) to the very foundation of these great United States of America from which everything today is built upon. 

Turn your History books to page 1, please. 

1619's - 1863: Race was used to justify slavery. That is, Black people in early USA were regarded as an inferior race, as sub-human, in needing of enlightenment and work that was provided to them, graciously, by their White masters. The economic boom that resulted came literally, on the backs of Black people in the USA. You know this. Due to the emancipation proclamation on 1/1/1863, [*most] slaves then became free. 

1863 - 1900s: Then came the Reconstruction period in which Black people started to become self sufficient, owning business, becoming literate, voting and generally just being awesome. What happened next, you ask? I'll tell you - the black codes, or what we now loosely refer to as Jim Crow laws. These laws were designed to limit the freedom of Black people in America. Again. 

1900's - 1940's: with more and more Black people speaking truth to power (I love this phrase) and realizing their worth, you have Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois (and others) raising their proud Black voices. So you know what comes next - segregation aka separate but equal laws. Just another way to limit the freedom of Black people in America. 

1940's - 1960's: now we have more unapologetic Black people speaking truth to power, Malcolm X., Rosa Parks among others, culminating in Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dare you ask what comes next? The war on drugs. This is a war that on the outside seems to be non-racist and color blind. What is wrong with a war on drugs? How can you, deadrocketcow, a seemingly well educated, law abiding citizen have an issue with a war on drugs? This is a long discussion for another day, best started early, when no Godly person should be awake - but let the facts speak for themselves with these questions: 

1. Why does crack cocaine have heftier penalties and prison time compared to an equivalent amount of powder cocaine? 

2. People of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at similar rates. When you count the number of people in prison for drug crimes, why are they overflowing with minorities? 

These are rhetorical questions, for you to think on while you drink your morning coffee. Don't come for me. 

1960's - now: 

 As recently as August 1965, Black people did not have the right to vote. As recently as 1967, it was illegal in sixteen states for a black person to marry outside of their race. Redlining - a heinous and disgusting practice that exists to this day, allows neighborhoods and districts to be placed into groups that make them ineligible for federal funding and services. Black people are more likely to receive higher interest rates on their mortgage compared to White people. Black people are 23% more likely to be pulled over by the police than White people, 1.5 to 5 times more likely to be searched when they *are* pulled over (while less likely to turn up contraband), resulting in a 3.5-4 times higher probability that they will be killed by the police. Black mothers with a college education have a higher infant mortality compared to White women who have a high school diploma. More Black people (and minorities) die from COVID19 than white people. I could go on. The examples are legion. 

I was not raised or (before college) educated in the USA. I had the blissful ignorance provided by being raised in my formative years, in a country where people are seen as individuals and not immediately judged by the color of their skin. (This is not to say that Zambians do not suffer from their own post-colonial syndromes). 

I am sorry for all the Black friends in college and in medical school and in early residency who were hurt by my question. They opened up the most vulnerable parts of themselves, to me, a fellow Black person, and were hurt by my ignorance. 

But now that I see, I cannot un-see. 

The question you should be asking is "How can we make everything NOT have to be about race?" 

 *not in the states loyal to the Union