Does Race Still Count?

I've been mulling over this idea that we're in a post-identity politics period.  I hope so as I'm getting tired of identity politics; I think they are distracting us from building a real movement and culture of change; and I think if we are in fact beyond identity politics, and that this is a good sign of things to come.

But, then, does race still count?

Well, yes and no.

Clearly, racism is no longer publicly and politically acceptable.  The numbers of African-Americans making it into the bourgeoisie grows.  African-Americans are accepted without question in communities that didn't have a single person of color not that long ago.  Perhaps most importantly (in terms of creating acceptance in the broader American culture) African-Americans are in the public eye regularly as success stories.  And the process of cultural integration is slow enough without the history of slavery and racism to contend with, so progress, right?

I hope so.

But, I have the sneaking suspicion that in reality we've just conflated race and class in a whole new way.  The Black proletariat is (as usual) still incomprehensible for America, even if all other people, of all races and ethnicities, are accepted.

Perhaps we are headed for a true cultural integration.  (I avoid the term assimilation, because I would argue that Black culture has and will continue to impact American culture as much as, if not more than, it is affected back.)  But then, fearless reader, I wonder who gets Other-ed next: immigrants are always the easy targets, ones that don't speak English are even easier.  It would be nice to put an end to these remnants of a culture of hatred.  That would be the real revolution.