Oh, good heavens. As a MORMON mother of a biracial son who used to attend a majority black Mormon congregation, I can say that our church does NOT have an issue with Black people. People of all races have always been allowed to attend. For many years, Black males could not hold the priesthood (even though they could be members of the church), but that has not been the case for many years (there is speculation that it orginally came from the fact that the church was organized during the time of slavery--no one really knows for sure, but in general, people were very glad when that was changed). There are racists in every population, including the Mormon church, but it goes strictly against the doctrine. It is amazing to me that people who will so rabidly insist on reaching out to ethnic minorities don't seem at all concerned about propegating false information about religious minorities without attempting to actually find out the facts.

I'm curious, growingupartists...why do you think that engaging in exclusion is an 'ego-booster' that makes people feel energized?

What Holder siad reminds me of my first 4th of July in Little Rock, Arkansas. I drove past the public park & there were loads of people. But something was really off. Then I noticed that all the black folks were on one side & all the white folks were on another. in the middle, there was an invisible line.

Oh and I'm not upset, I was honestly just surprised by what I perceived to be a mocking tone, which I didn't detect in earlier posts from you. I apologize if I misinterpreted.

I'm sorry, I'm cracking up at "[my] exotic beauty"! LOL! Somehow you've gotten the impression that Pacific Islander is more of this: http://www.netresult.ws/images/h_polynesian.gif than this: http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/roger_1601.jpg Too funny! (Niether pictures is me, for the record, but unfortunately I have very little in common with the first picture.) Anyway, as to my obstacles, I'm sorry but it really does sound like you're using it as a precondition for taking my opinion seriously. Have I ever just out right had someone treat me like crap in a way that made it clear to me that it was about my skin color? No, I haven't. But I was mercilessly teased for having "black lips" in school, have more than once been assumed to be my children's nanny, and have been the only "brown" person in a given situation more times than I would ever be able to count. I guess the worst thing that ever happened was in college when a guy I dated said his mother told him after meeting me that she wasn't okay with him dating someone that wasn't white. That sucked. But ultimately this isn't about my personal experiences, it's just the way I want my children to believe (that the color of your skin is no more meaningful than the color of your eyes), and I think the best way to get there is not to make a big, fat, hairy deal about it, including taking pains to "expose" them to other races. Now, I will put one caveat on that: If somehow, my children lived in a completely homogeneous neighborhood, and went to a completely homogeneous school, and never encountered anything but people who look like them at the mall or the movies or the store, and didn't have a television or Internet access, I would feel differently, I know I would. But I've lived in almost every region of this country and never had to go out of my way to meet and interact with people of many different colors and origins, even if our immediate neighbors couldn't represent every nation in the UN.

Well, no, I've never actually had anyone assume I was from Hawaii, but I get what you're insinuating, between your not-so-subtle mockery. You're presuming, without having ever laid eyes on me, that I don't look ethnic enough to have had an "authentic minority experience." Not much I can say to that. Well, exactly how dark does my skin / wide does my nose / big do my lips / broken does my English need to be for my opinion to be valid? Perhaps if I have that criteria, I can save myself the trouble in the future of stating my own opinion, and leave it to those that meet the standards, but share my views.

I totally respect what you're saying, I just don't know that I agree, which is fine. I don't think people are not allowed to be angry, or even that they're not justified in being angry, when they encounter racism. Rather, I am saying that I'm not sure it's the best, most productive response. And I'm not personally uncomfortable talking about race, any more than I am uncomfortable talking about my eye color. It just... is. I think the only way race will become a true non-issue is if people allow themselves to think of skin color the same way. I know at some point we all will, but I'm not going to wait for it, it's how I feel. I told my husband that I think racists are like flat earth people. At one time, most people believed the earth was flat... then educated people knew better... then MOST people knew better... then basically everyone knew better... and even now, there are some very backwards people that STILL believe wholeheartedly that the earth is flat. I'm not going to waste my energy on those people. Even if I did, I doubt I would make any difference. I know we're not THAT far, but we're getting there, and I think we'd get there faster if we'd accept it.

I was unclear in my earlier comment -- we brag about the thrifty deals NOW, not when I was a kid. Back then I was ashamed of my Izod knock-offs. (I don't miss that sort of pressure!)

I would revel in the opportunity to speak with someone with such amazing life experiences as well! I just wouldn't want my children to think you can identify "interesting" people by their skin color or ancestry. Does that make sense?

I went to school in the same area that you did, and from what I remember from back then I would have to say that the top 10 public schools in the state were about 20% non-caucasian, and of that 10% and less of the student population was Black. It's possible it's changed since then I really haven't researched it to be honest.