Post Racial America

Are we living in a post-racial society? Do we want to be? Is it possible? Is this question ridiculous? Why are people so obsessed with race? What does President Obama, the media's perception and portrayal of him and his various racial attributes, native Americans, the media's perception and portrayal of them, sports, perception of racial issues as white/black versus Arab/Hispanic/Asian, and Attorney General Holder say about our society and it's relation with race? To many a post racial society is paradise. Now that we've elected a half black president we must congratulate ourselves for getting beyond centuries of slavery and oppression and celebrate at the table of brotherhood. This is an appealing idea. There are two problems with this: One, it is denial. There are a hundred million people who don't think the same way. Two, it denies the beauty and possibilities that come from playing with differences, no matter how arbitrary.
The term “racial profiling,” which was introduced to criticize abusive police practices, carries connotations of illegitimacy. In a typical approach, Ramirez et al. (2000) define profiling as “any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin, rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity.” This definition captures a pre-theoretical notion many people have. Crucially, this definition contrasts the use of race, ethnicity, or national origin with the use of an individual’s behavior or information that helps apprehend somebody who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity. Including this contrast in the definition raises two problems. First, it mentions a feature of investigative methods, namely, the use of race, ethnicity, etc., whereas it mentions both a feature of investigative methods (“rely on information pertaining to individuals”)