my response to "Excuse Me, Your Race is Showing"

Being Black is indeed a Black's master status, and no, we will never be able to escape the "price" that comes along with it, as long as we acknowledge the paradigm of race as legitimate. I understand where the author is coming from when she speaks of white people not being able to overlook the color line, but what about us? If we just stopped trying to justify our "rightful" place in society as a "worthy race", maybe we could diminish the the very thought of race, and focus only on an individuals characteristics as their definition. Bates speaks a lot about racial profiling: getting stopped by police because your black, black elites being ignorantly reduced to bell hops and shoe sales persons just because of the color of their skin. But she also follows up with the Black trying to qualify that not only are they people of prestige and power, but EVEN THOUGH they are BLACK, its commendable they even have such positions, and FOR THAT, they deserve respect. What happened to us just wanting respect off of general principle? Being a hard working human being that will not tolerate being categorized, bump the white man's letter of approval, and pat on the back, give me the same respect you'd give your mother, and not just because she's white, but because as a human being you identify with her with respect and innate recognition. The essay is successful in explaining the misfortunes Blacks undergo on a day to day basis, but that has already been done, for decades; when will we ourselves look over the concept of race and just exist as people and not the stigmatized "black people." What's also a shocker to me, the author writes a book, and in it is a component of how to deal with such situations...are you freaking serious?! I dont need a handbook on how to effectively be a good nigga in a situation where a racist makes me uncomfortable, I need the will to put them in their place and keep trucking! Now I'm not saying forget the black community and its dynamics, I'm saying lets be recognized as an elite culture, not a "good race"