I think one of the big reasons it's so difficult to start a dialog about race in this country is because interaction between white and black has become so politicized. I'm sure many African-Americans here can understand what I mean: the careful construction of character that so many blacks feel forced to put up to appease to the other side, the difficultly in attaining legitimacy without seeming "whiny", and so on and so forth.
As a white man, I think it's difficult too. Most whites, when trying to start a dialog, come off as tokenizing, or assimilationist. Others try to ignore the problem, hoping that by not acknowledging race, racism will be defeated. This, of course, encourages white apathy.
For a lot of whites, it seems impossible to reach out since every act comes attached with a political subtext. I have friends who are black, but heaven help me if I ever think of them my black friends.
So given this, how do you think whites can best reach out?