<p>"
My cousin and his classmate were shot by a Mexican (non-student) at a party at their Catholic college. They had to take off a semester to recover from their injuries. </p>
<p>Am I racist for saying that it was a Mexican that shot them, or am I simply reporting the facts?</p>
<p>When my kid was in second grade at a public elementary school, another student brought a loaded handgun to school. Am I a racist for saying that the kid who brought the gun to school was, in fact, black? </p>
<p>What if a black person were talking and said that a white person (or Asian, or Hispanic) walked into a party and pulled out a gun? Would the black person be a racist for mentioning the color of the person who pulled the gun? "</p>
<p>What does the race have to do with what happened? Certainly race is important when trying to help the police identify the perp, or if it appeared to be a race-based incident. Otherwise, who cares what race the person was unless one happens to think that the perp's behavior reflected some kind of bad characteristics of the perp's race?</p>
<p>When I was a well behaved, very shy kindergardener, for absolutely no apparent reason, another girl walked over and punched me hard in the stomach. Does it matter at all that I am black, was in Catholic school and the girl who hit me was white with blond hair and blue eyes?</p>
<p>When I was in 6th grade, I was bullied unmercifully. No mention was made of race even though i was the only black student in my entire 6th grade class. I have discussed with my sons my experience as the target of bullying, but not once did I ever mention that the bullies were white girls. </p>
<p>When I was a young journalist, I was the target of some sexist behavior by an editor in my office. I have discussed this with students as an example of how to handle such situations. I've never mentioned the fact that the editor was white.</p>
<p>Consequently, yes, I do think that the alum's mentioning race in those anecdotes did reflect her own racism. If you usually include the people's race in the stories that you just told, I also would see that as reflecting your own racism. [I'm not viewing it this way now because clearly you're including race to try to explain a point related to this thread.]</p>
<p>As an example of how little attention I would personally pay to race in stories of violence/crime: Once my husband saw a woman's purse get snatched. He chased the perp and got the purse back. When my husband told me this, I my only concern was that my husband's gallantry could have gotten him killed. Not once did I ask about the perp's race, nor did my husband mention it. Indeed, such a question never crossed my mind until now.</p>
