I’m having a debate with a friend of mine who opposes racism, adamantly, and, yet, denies there is any distinction to be made between the races. Kooky, no? His main “argument” is that there is a gradation in most people; hardly anyone, nowadays, is a pure anything. Including him. He claims to be 1% black, although he admits he looks as white as I am. I’ve tried this argument on him to no avail: Roygbiv. The colors shade into one another. That doesn’t mean we can tell red from orange from yellow, etc. Similarly, the races shade into one another. That doesn’t mean we can’t tell one from the other. Neither colors nor races are social constructs. Both are part of reality. We ignore any part of reality at our peril, whether colors or races or anything else. Color blindedness is a handicap. So is race blindedness. When accused of racism, I’m now gonna claim I have at least one black friend, namely, him. It seems plain and obvious to me that whites are better than blacks in swimming and as baroque musicians, while blacks are better than whites, proportionately, at jazz, running and basketball. Yes, he would deny this, since, there is no such thing as races, or racial differences. Oh, yet, here is yet another way out on the limb claim of mine: blacks have darker skin, on average (there are some exceptions), than whites. If this be racism, count me in.

The Best of Walter E. Block