I wish people wouldn’t use race as a means of asserting self-determination and identity. It is understandable why it happens of course. If you are from a historically low-status minority, odds on your people will have been treated like shit by the majority. There will be a feeling of certitude and moral justification in somehow redressing that imbalance. The enlightened, liberal attitude of trying to right the wrongs of the past with regard to racial minorities might, in the minds of some, then be seen as a weakness to be exploited. As I see it, this is making the same mistake over again. It does so in the name of putting things to rights when it may only be about seizing an opportunity to wield some power.

People seem to sense instinctively when there is a sway in the zeitgeist toward a particular set of values. They sense the possibility for advantage. To do this in a racial context might bring some short term benefits but does little to serve the interests of the bigger picture. For most of us our ethnic background is, and should be, way down the list of things by which we would choose to identify ourselves.

It has taken a long time to get even close to where it is individuality and character that determine one’s place in the world; this, as opposed to whichever group, tribe, clan, religion or creed is subscribed to. Assertion through over-identification with the group, minority or otherwise, is always a backward move with a price to be paid.