Personally I think the worst thing that could have happened to people of color is the anti-racism movement. Granted, the 60s civil rights movement was important and necessary, but over the last 40 years, that movement has become less about ensuring equality, and more about shaming people into complying with socially accepted behavior.
Aside from having to deal with overly correct white people, we non-whites must constantly wage a battle of understanding… the understanding that the person in front of us is most likely a racist, they are just too ashamed to be labeled as such. While they may never wear a white robe and hood and burn a cross on your lawn, the racist acts they are likely to perform, are infinitely worse…
I believe what most people fail to realize is that while most people of color wish racism could be eradicated, we know that most of the efforts to eliminate overt racism simply drive racists underground. Shaming someone into being more sensitive to racial differences is NOT the same as educating them about the value of people of all colors, genders, sexual orientation, and class.
I’ve often said I would prefer that people be outwardly hostile toward me if they were racist. I actually have a higher opinion of overt racists than I do of politically correct busy bodies who claim to be color-blind but are actually seething pits of racial hatred. The overt racist is at least willing to stand up for his convictions, while the closet racist is able to maintain the perception of open-minded citizen all the while doing his/her best to undermine the value of those people who are different than he/she. So feel free to call me a spic, beaner, or a wetback… at least I know who my real enemies are.
UPDATE: I should also say that hiding racism behind arguable altruistic rhetoric (for instance those on the conservative side of the illegal immigration issue) is equally bad. The whole "we need to protect our borders from foreign nationals intent on committing terrorists acts" argument is rather flimsy at best… I mean, unless Joe America is thinking that illegal immigrant and Aliberto’s head chef, Juan Estrada, is attempting to destroy the US one colon at a time, 99% of all illegal immigrants are not terrorists. It is hard not to think that a vast portion of Arizona’s white population is the very kloset klan koalition that I am speaking about.