Playing the Race Card

Is it really "playing the race card" to point out unfair treatment as it happens to a person of color? I don't often find myself agreeing with Geraldo Rivera, but he told his true belief recently to Eric Bolling of Fox News and was accused of playing the race card. All he said was that he felt the Ebola victim, Thomas Eric Duncan might not have been turned away from the hospital the first time if he'd been a white man with insurance.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/geraldo-rivera-ebola-race-card-racist-eric-bolling-fox-news_n_5964610.html

This is what happens whenever anyone tries to discuss the role that skin color plays in the way people are treated in our society. Racism isn't just an American problem and there are groups springing up all over the world specifically to address the problem. Here's one from the UK:  http://www.end-racism.org/

And here's one for America:  http://everyday-democracy.org/resources/racial-equity#.VDl0hPRDuSo
This is from their home page:  "We need to face racism head-on in order to have healthy communities and a strong country. Racism and gaps among racial and ethnic groups affect education, housing, health care, the justice system and job opportunities. If we're going to make progress in our communities and in our country, people from all backgrounds and views must work together to address racism and inequities." This group is promoting a dialogue to change program. 

I believe we need to have conversations all over America where people can openly dialogue about the topic of racism.  We can all examine what we've been taught and what we chose to retain or eliminate from our belief system. There are many encouraging stories on this site at this link:  http://everyday-democracy.org/stories/change#.VDl1wPRDuSo 

People can change, communities can change, and most of all our society can change. We can stop racism if we will! Will you help?

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