Charles M. Blow, New York Times [1], thinks were are all racists ;
[A] CNN poll from last January found that 72 percent of whites thought that blacks overestimated the amount of discrimination against them, while 82 percent of blacks thought that whites underestimated the amount of discrimination against blacks.
What explains this wide discrepancy? One factor could be that most whites harbor a hidden racial bias that many are unaware of and don’t consciously agree with.
To which I agree. So what! Some racism is simply rational. You may call Jesse Jackson [2] a lot of things, but stupid he is not:
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery-then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
Show me any person who says he does not consider race in his words, actions or deeds, and I will show you either a fool or a liar.
The state of race relations may not be what Blow thinks it should be and I agree. However attacking rational racism is not part of the solution. Rational people are not going to start acting irrational because some columist is upset or the Attorney General gives a speech.