Let’s have an open dialogue about race

      Along with politics and religion, race is one of the few topics no one in America really wants to talk about. That is, until someone does some- thing outrageous or unbelievably stupid.

     "Reverse racism" is one of those unbelievably stupid topics that inevitably leads people of all stripes to break that tendency.

    The fact is that the term "reverse racism" is a misnomer. There's no such thing.

    In fact, the problem with that term is that it assumes racism can only be directed at minorities, which is clearly false.

      Furthermore, it's foolish to think that racism can be singularly defined between the dynamics of a singular set of races, blacks and whites, for example.

     No one can say that race relations are not at their best point in American history.

     If you would have told someone 50 years ago that a black president would be elected in 2008 with 53 percent of the popular vote, you would probably have been laughed at, or worse.

But here we are.

      Of course that doesn't mean that racism is suddenly gone or that everything is suddenly OK in America. But that fact, among others, points towards a larger, progressive trend in race relations over the decades, which indicates that things will likely get better for minorities in the future.

With each decade and generation, the rights of minorities have gradually increased. That's impossible to deny.

       And not just for ethnic minorities but also for other traditionally socially marginalized groups, such as the LGBT community.

       However, with that progression, some minority organizations founded decades ago have lost their purpose.

       Organizations that cater exclusively to the needs of a very specific minority are no longer necessary in an increasing number of cases.

      For instance, do we really need a separate division of African American Student Services and Programs from Student Affairs here at Georgia State, arguably the most diverse university in the state, if not the South?

      There's a difference between events and organizations that celebrate ethnic identities and their respective cultures and institutions that actively promote de facto discriminatory policies.

     For instance, as a white male, why would I be drawn to go to the OAASAP?

Sure, no one is going to bar me from going inside and seeking help, but I'm obviously not the ideal applicant, otherwise what's the point?

      By even having such an office, the implication is that Student Affairs cannot handle the needs of African Americans by themselves, which I find inflammatory.

     I'm not trying to pick on any specific race or say that the things the OAASAP does are bad, nor am I trying to say that I think we should have an "Office of Italian American Student Affairs and Programs" or an "Office of Spanish American Student Affairs and Programs. "

     Rather, I think the mentality these racial dichotomies in general are inherently flawed.

People don't understand that there's no such thing as "black history" or "white history." In this country, there is only American history.

      I find it silly to imagine that people of various races want to relegate their history to a set amount of days each year, as if that could possibly contain something ostensibly so close to them.

      As it stands, race is one of the few taboo topics, that no one ever wants to address.

For us to move beyond racism, we have to move beyond the divisions that come from our use of races and ethnicities as interpersonal identifiers.

      In my opinion, we shouldn't categorically divide ourselves with labels like "black man" or "white female," for instance. Even if that's how people have

historically been categorized, we can't afford that sort of thinking if we truly look forward to the continued development of humankind as a species.

     After all, racism is not something that one born with but something that one is taught and passed down. To illustrate the point, have you ever met a racist baby?

     Rather than attacking or dismissing my opinion or others like mine because it is different, look it as a different perspective, just as I will towards others in the future.

     Because what we truly need as a society is an open dialogue about race that is not clouded by pre- conceptions and prejudices.