Does Race Still Matter?

Just had this random though and it was too much to type on twitter so...

I was wondering if race still mattered to any of ya'll out there, especially some of my younger readers. I was having a talk with a friend about a year or so ago and they were telling me about how their younger cousin wanted to go to the prom with a white dude and how folks in the family didn't quite know how to take that. That sparked a discussion about how to the younger generation, race probably doesn't matter as much as it did in mine or the generation before because hell, most people born in the late-80s/early-90s and beyond have all grown up getting exposed to same shit for the most part. Yeah, some kids may have watched Fresh Prince and videos on MTV on a wide screen color TV while others watched on a not so big TV, but they saw the same shit at the end of the day. So in alot of cases they have alot in common.

I mean even look at things now, for the most part cats from all ethnic backgrounds are damn near dressing the same and have alot of the same habits and interests. Most of them get lumped into the "urban" demographic by marketing companies. And if they're not "urban" they probably dress/talk/act like the cast from The Hills or one of these other reality shows. I mean really, the only difference I've been seeing in people has been class based. Have and havenots, smart-asses and dumb-asses.

The thing that sparked this random thought was a blip I just saw on CNN. Tonight Ann Coulter and Al Sharpton are going to be on Larry King Live tonight. What they're going to talk about? I have no clue, Obama and Skip Gates I suppose. Maybe Michael Jackson too.

But seeing that got me the thinking, maybe race only still matters to our elders who were raised at a time when racial tension was very high. Now, I'm not sitting here acting like racial tension doesn't exist among people my age and younger, but really, the only overt racial tension I see among people in my generation and younger comes from dumbasses hopping on World Star Hip Hop leaving "fuck all niggers" comments or posting stupid ass videos talking straight non-sense.

Forgive me for sounding naive, but it seems like racial barriers are close to non-existent amongst the younger generation in this country. Really, its the older cats that always try to keep it alive because its all they know and its what they capitalize off of. As much as Al Sharpton goes around crying foul about race in America, dude makes money from the conflict and gains fame from sticking his nose it. Do you really think dude wants to see racial harmony in this country? Hell no, he'd go broke if Blacks and Whites started getting along. Same goes for Bill O'Rielly getting on the air selling Black fear.

If you don't get what I'm saying, hear this. Where are the younger Al Sharpton's? Where are the younger Bill O'Rielly's? Is there a hipster version of Rush Limbaugh out there anywhere? If you know of them, please let us know. I'm not saying that I want them, because I most definetly don't. I'm just noting that our elders seem to be the only ones still tripping.

What do you think?