Post-Racial?

Okay, so I see where this guy is coming from with his concerns for the Resident Evil 5 trailer and I can understand why people might be offended. BUT... how can we ever achieve a post-racial society if every action is analyzed for racist overtones? At one point, N'Gai Croal even grants that there may have been no racist intent:

This imagery has a history. It has a history and you can’t pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a history that has to be engaged, that has to be understood. If you’re going to tread, if you’re going to engage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be aware of that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace.

The problem is that there will always be a history. History doesn't go away. If we must always remain aware of the history and engage it, then we will always be thinking in terms of race and we will never eradicate racism. You can't be "post-racial" and always thinking about race. The same goes for other -isms... it's not healthy for everyone to be evaluating everything they do or say in terms of who it might offend. We should, instead, be trying to understand other people for who they are not what they might be offended by.

I'm always bemused when I'm talking to someone about some politician or famous person and they caution me that that person is some minority or other protected group and that I should be careful. Often, I have no idea what they are talking about. I don't keep track of who is what and don't really care to. I'm more interested in what they do or say than where their ancestors are from or who they worship or have sex with and I don't want to have to keep scorecards of everyone's victim status.

Technorati: Racism, Media, Gaming