RACISM, PARTS I AND II

in john scalzi's most excellent blog, guest writer mary ann mohanraj delivered a two-day discourse on race, in the context of writers and writing. here are links to part I and part II. as i noted in an email to select friends, her thoughts are deep, clear and honest. five stars.

even if i didn't have aspirations as a writer (i do), her thoughts would remain informative and compelling. it is absolutely essential for all of us as world citizens to talk about race. i've been fortunate to live among black and latino communities, and to make lifelong friends who have broadened my horizons in unexpected and welcome directions. life is too short NOT to explore all the diversity and color that makes up our world. essential to this is discovering and understanding the issues which separate us from each other. as i noted in my email to friends, "race is the deepest, and most studiously ignored, issue of this or any other time. xenophobia drives just about any conflict you can name. the 'other' may be based on gender, nationality, class or religion, but race receives the least attention. at least in my never-to-be-humble view."