Eugene Robinson writes in today's Washington Post that many problems facing American Blacks are complicated by the fact that people generalize too much about the Black "race," and therefore their analytical frames are unable to grasp or cope with complex problems. I agree with him. He says,

The problem is that we all say we want an "honest dialogue" about race, but we've been having the same old arguments for years -- affirmative action, inner-city dysfunction, overt and covert racism -- and we seem to be stuck. We need a new language, a new vocabulary and syntax. Eugene Robinson, "Which Black America?"

If we're seeking an new language and vocabulary, then let's look at the word "race" itself. The word is biologically meaningless, we all agree. The anachronistic word and concept attempt to capture a group of people through a biological determinism that we all recognize simply doesn't exist. We all know as a result of DNA tests that Thomas Jefferson has progeny who are part of the white race and progeny who are part of the Black "race," which means that "race" has no biological meaning whatsoever. Its boundaries are too porous, too much based upon our social suppositions rather than our scientific observations, for it to have biological meaning. Even sociologically, we recognize that the word "race" is also part of a determination to place people in rigid categories rather than merely a recognition of rigid categories that already exist.

And so we have a choice to make. Each of us must decide, as a personal matter, whether we will continue to use words that reflect a determination to maintain rigid social caste system or whether we will use words that recognize and embrace the fluidity of caste, such as it is. If I marry a white woman and two of my four children can pass for white, they may do so and thereby leave the Black "race" to be accepted as white. This means that "race" does not exist at all. What we are really talking about is color-associated social group, and the sooner we recognize that the sooner we will be able to have the meaningful conversation using meaningful "analytical frames" of which Eugene Robinson speaks.

As soon as we acknowledge that race does not exist, and we therefore decide to stop making reference to what is really a culture-bound pretext, we are forced to accept that we cannot discriminate against others because of their "race" if "race" itself does not exist. We can discriminate against them because of their "perceived race," which is a possibility that is acknowledged in many anti-discrimination statutes. It is just as bad to be discriminated against because someone believes me to be of a Black "race" as it is to be discriminated against because I am of a Black "race." And so many of our laws already recognize that we do not need to believe in the fiction of "race" to acknowledge that the fiction of "race" often leads to and supports discrimination.

Sometimes the fiction of "race" prevents discrimination. Whites believe they can tell who has Black ancestors just by looking at Blacks. As a result, they accept many people with Black ancestors as white because they cannot tell the difference. If "race" had any meaning biologically, whites would test all Americans genetically to determine who is genuinely Black and who is genuinely white. But they will not risk doing so because many of those who consider themselves to be white are, unknowingly, genetically ancestors of Blacks. Just as genetic science has discredited the belief that there are fundamental biological differences between Black and white social groups, genetic science will eventually prove that even our perception of who is "Black" and who is "white" is fatally flawed. As many as half of those who now base their identity on their "whiteness" are going to be humbled, socially and politically altered unless our society overcomes these problems beforehand.

In sociological terms, when we say the "Black race" what we really mean is "the Black social group" to which we ascribe characteristics, rights, responsibilities and obligations both legally and culturally. As soon as we have decided that people are part of that social group, then we know how we will treat them. And we have grasped desperately to the word "race" to justify and perpetuate this state of affairs, with Blacks nearly as guilty as whites for the linguistic perpetuation of the word "race." In this case, whites ride our backs linguistically, in part, because we kneel down and permit them to do so.