Feeding the Bitch of Racial Awareness

I went to register for classes last week and was prompted with a survey asking what my ethnicity was.  I always click the "I prefer not to answer" option because I don't see how the question is relevant to my education.  I also don't see why students need to spend their time telling the school what their racial background is.  It in no way effects my ability to learn and participate effectively in a classroom setting.  Schools can get grants based upon data supporting their claims to be "diverse."  I would personally be livid if I learned that my university was profiting off the amount of pigment in my skin. 

We have a problem.  I call it the opposite of racism: hyper racial awareness.  Our school prides itself in being culturally aware and sensitive to diversity.  I personally think this is complete crap and a waste of time.  It's painting a bad picture of the character of many Caucasians, implying that there is a need for us to be hyper-aware of racial differences.  As someone who has never been a minority, I cannot speak for them, but I believe I speak for all people when I say that it's not desirable to have special attention given to us because of a physical characteristic which we have no control over.  That's exactly what we are doing by being hyper racially aware: giving people special treatment.  To me, it's the same as saying, "I am sensitive to you and your needs because you have a giant forehead."  It sounds ridiculous.  It is ridiculous.  Allow me to reiterate, giving people special attention, whether positive or negative because of the way they look is ridiculous.

I realize that history speaks for itself and there was certainly a time where blacks were treated horribly by whites.  But fortunately, it isn't that way anymore, at least not in our small corner of the world.  Blacks fought for equal rights and won that fight.  Just the same as women fought to vote and won that fight.  So why, after all this time and various steps toward equality do we need to still treat minorities differently?  I, personally do not owe you anything because the color of your skin is different than mine.  If I was attending a university in Africa, I would be offended if the University prided itself in being "culturally aware."  I would find it condescending.  It would have been my choice to re-locate to an area where I become the minority and my choice to get an education there.  No one owes me anything for my own personal choices, just as I don't owe anyone anything for theirs.  Simply put, no one should have to be pigeon holed into being hyper aware of racial or cultural differences, because they are not the minority.

The way to beat racism is simple.  Stop feeding the bitch with attention.  Don't treat minorities any differently than the larger population - whether it's blacks, white, asians, hispanics, women, etc.  It isn't improving anyone's education or life.  Feeding racism with such a hyper awareness is doing just that: feeding racism.   By doing this, we are only refusing to allow people to truly live harmoniously because we're wedging a gap between races.  So let's stop.  Let's not allow other people to feed the bitch either.  If we don't give cultural diversity attention, it won't need to exist.  Treat other people the same regardless of their external features.  Eventually the bitch of racism will die completely - which is what the people promoting this diversity are after.