Race is not something that we can argue dispassionately. Our ancestors tried. They built entire "sciences" around it - eugenics, phrenology, etc. We still see the remnants of these pseudo-scientific endeavors in books like The Bell Curve.
However, we can't base our arguments on pathos alone. We need to examine what has happened to our country and what its state is today before we start flinging cavalier accusations around.
I don't know how it is in Denver, but growing up on the Jersey Shore, I saw how much it can suck to be poor and black. I say this because my economic situation wasn't better off. The greater part of my neighbors were black, as are many of my conservative Republican father's friends, but that didn't stop me from getting the shit kicked out of me on the bus ride to school by people who didn't know me or my family. Eventually I gave up on taking the bus and just walked to school. It gave me an opportunity to stop by a local greasy spoon and get some coffee. Thus began a lifelong habit.
One time a group of about 6 black kids ganged up on me while I was taking a shit in the bathroom. They startled me by throwing one of those industrial-sized aluminum trash cans into my stall and then beat me with it when I ran out. I was more humiliated than hurt, because the trash can was empty at the time. I didn't recognize any of them so the affair ended at that.
Ironically most of my classmates were not white. They were Indian and Chinese and Korean and even a few blacks. I went to the prom with a girl named Melissa who was from Trinidad. There were also Jews, but almost none of the Italian Americans - who made up a huge part of the population - were in my track at school.
Am I bitter? Yes, at the people who beat me up. They were assholes. There were plenty of assholes to go around, though, even Italian-American assholes. I'm pissed off at them all. At a certain level, everybody is disadvantaged, no matter what your skin color is. Things like skin color keep us divided, however, and fighting amongst ourselves. I had more in common with many of my (black) neighbors than plenty of the more wealthy white kids at my school, and yet the white kids never used to beat the shit out of me; they had other ways of snubbing me. I'm sure if the real racists were to see you railing out against the people here, MEJ, people who share so much in common with you, they'd have a great laugh. Ultimately they want those of us who are disadvantaged to stay where we are, and remain divided as we are.
You enjoy mocking us don't you? There is a reason this was called the land of oppertunity. People sacrificed their blood and their lives to build a better America and tame the west. (I admit that doesn't always come over as a good thing) But as it stands I feel more guilty over the Trail of Tears, and the Japaness-American Concentration Camps than I do about slavery. What does it take for good people that died in poverty and in church burnings whom helped slaves get north into Canada to earn your respect? Do you not aknoledge that their are those that helped your people in their time of need every chance they could?