Dear America:

Come on, guys. I thought we were past this. I’ve been so delighted in some of the advances that I’ve seen in the past few years, and now this. We even seemed that we were at least partially color-blind when it came to electing a president, but there have been a lot of sour notes in the last few weeks.

Now, let me start by saying that while I was employed, I kept up with current events a lot better, but since I’ve been disengaged with the business world, my grasp of politics has slipped some as well, so my facts might be off. If they are, feel free to call me on it.

It all started with this damn “don’t re-nig in 2012” bumper sticker that was making the rounds. I have to say, I was shocked that here in the freaking 21st century, we’ve got people out there thinking that it’s cool or clever to say something like that, and people willing to pay to freely advertise their bigotry right on the back of their cars. The manufacturer of the sticker has pulled the item from their site, but adopted a “Whoa! Can’tcha take a joke? I’m no racist or anything” attitude that’s, frankly, ridiculous. Of course you are. And, as one of Conan O’Brian’s writers astutely pointed out in a comic editorial, the word “renege” means to take something back, so if it’s not pointedly racist, the bumper sticker is actually an endorsement for the president’s re-election.

Yes, the First Amendment grants you the right to post hate speech on your car. But if you accept this, then you also have to accept that people will key and egg your car mercilessly because you have freely advertised yourself to be a bigoted idiot. Moving on.

Next came the Trayvon Martin case, in which a young black man was shot by a Neighborhood Watch member of indeterminate lineage, who was not subsequently arrested and is claiming self-defense. Granted, I was not actively pursuing the facts of this case, but since according the police report the shooter also suffered injuries, it’s clear that some kind physical altercation took place. If that turns out to be true, then what we need to do is take a hard look at the Florida gun laws (which, I believe I can assume, are more influenced by the NRA than anything else) and decide if it’s really a good idea for Neighborhood Watch members – “Watch” being the effective word here – to have the right to brandish firearms.

Because the victim was black, the racial tinge of this story can’t be left behind. Many people – including the media – convicted the shooter on the spot. I myself didn’t even learn of the physical altercation until over a week after I first heard about the case. I’m reserving judgment until I learn all the facts of this case, and I wish the media had done the same. Too many people are using this case to further their own agendas… the scenarios run the gamut from a wannabe gangster verbally and then physically attacking a passerby and getting shot in the process, and an innocent kid walking at night getting shot solely for the color of his skin. As always, the truth is going to fall somewhere in the middle, and in the end I think the only people who will come out of it looking better than stupid are the ones who hold their tongues until the investigation is over.

Then there’s the Hunger Games. I’ve heard about some people Tweeting and statusing their fool heads off, complaining (yes, *complaining*) about the racial diversity of the recent Hunger Games movie. It seems that author Suzanne Collins’s downplaying the racial identity of some of the characters -- and rightfully so, I mean, what point is there in discussing it in a futuristic warzone where you need to pay less attention to race than to whether someone is going to immediately kill you or not? – inadvertently caused some viewers of the movie adaption to be blindsided by the fact that some of the characters were, in fact, dark-skinned.

Oh. My. Lord. Is this really something the average viewer can’t get over in, say, about ten seconds? What would go through my mind would be, “Oh, I guess I thought Rue was white. Either I’m wrong or it’s an interesting bit of casting.” And that’s it. How do I know? Because, in truth, I must have missed that one sentence where Suzanne noted the skin color of one of her characters. I really did think Rue was white. But does it change anything about my sympathy for her? Of course not, because if it did, that would be – say it with me now -- *fucking* *racist*.

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but this whole series of incidents has swept the leg of my national pride out from under itself. I understand, really I do. We humans have been bred to identify and favor those who look more like us. It’s in our DNA, the product of billions of years of kill-or-be-killed evolution. But we’ve also proven that we are more than capable of rising above that. We can build a global, peaceful civilization, and the only people who aren’t going to be a part of it are those who can’t get past the fact that we’re all basically the same, and that every person on the planet is closer family to you than fortieth-cousins. If you don’t stop being afraid of this Other that you imagine is waiting around every corner to harm you, you will never advance.