How Far?

"I refuse to accept the idea that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality...I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullet, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of man."
-Martin Luther King

So really how far have we actually come? I look around everyday and still see racism rooted deep in every activity of life. I feel pressures from others of different colors, people still get preferential treatment because of the color of their skin, and rappers are making songs like "My President is Black" when in reality that should not be his one defining characteristic (not to mention he is only half black!). Martin Luther King was quoted saying the above quotation many years ago, yet little had changed. On the surface I think people would like to believe that things have changed, but in reality many things are exactly the same if not worse. The other day at work while engaging in a conversation I referred to someone who use to work with me as "the short black gentlemen" because at the moment I could not recall his name. Another employee happened to walk by at the exact moment that the words came out of my mouth and reacted in what I thought to be a very improper manner. He threw his hands in the air, shrugged and said, "Hey African-America okay. Can't we ever get a break?" Well, I'm sorry I thought I was living in 2009 where not every black person in America is from Africa (guess he has never meet a black Jamaican or black Haitian?) and not everyone from Africa is black (and I assume then he has never meet a white South African or non-black Egyptian?). To his comment I replied, "Oh, ok- well then it's not 'oh that white girl then,' 'caucasion' ok." He apparently thought I was joking and walked away. And in reality I don't care what I'm called. If we are going to pick needles out of haystakes here then I'm Irish-German American, but when have I ever been to those places or when did I ever meet my relatives from there? NEVER, so I'm white, much like he is black- I seriously doubt he could trace his heritage back more than 2 generations! So instead of pointing fingers and bitching about symantics shouldn't we focus on bigger issues at hand such as children getting raped by there own relatives, while other children starve because they have a cracked out mother? Let's stop teaching everyone to hate and ingrain things that really count into our brains!