The question is whether its actually exceedingly rare. You assume it is. But statistically.. the color of your skin has been shown to have a LARGE influence in how you are treated by our police and justice departments. These statistics are well established and are prevalent particularly for African americans.
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sorry for chopping so much of your quote out but my post put the whole thing over the character limit.
This reply opens up a WHOLE lot of room for discussion and I hope that any resulting commentary will be as substantive as the reply warrants.
First off, I won't deny that skin color can and does influence a number of social dynamics. That happens all the time and all over the world. However, chalking it up 100% to racism is, IMHO, myopic. It's human nature and react to traits which are different than those we see in ourselves. While skin tone is one of those traits it's certainly not the only one. Height, weight, posture, apparel, verbal communication, physical abnormalities, perceived attitude and myriad other things also influence the social dynamic. People will draw opinions about big, burly, bald white guys with tattoos. They'll draw opinions about tall, skinny women and disheveled pudgy women with three grubby kids in tow. I've heard plenty of comments regarding black males who don't "talk black" or are light skinned. You're not going to avoid that kind of stereotyping because it's human nature. That being said, I can certainly understand how a black kid feels the burn of a racial comment. After all, he can't change his skin and I'd imagine that a lifetime of "can I touch your hair" would grate on anyone.
As you said, those issues are something you just have to deal with. They have to get dealt with the same way someone with a thick accent or a noticeable physical characteristic has to deal their difference. You build up and emphasize your other traits so that once someone notes that initial difference they can't help but notice that it's a very minor difference when taken in the context of your whole person. I won't make any bones about it, that's a tall order and it's a lifetime commitment but it's one we all have to make if we want to succeed in life. Unfortunately, a lot of people struggle with that commitment. They find it easier to succumb to the negative stereotype than to overcome it. In some cases we end up with entire communities that have succumbed to their stereotype. "White trash" and "ghetto" are two such examples.
Second, you mention a "systemic problem" with race. My perspective is that the term is a crutch and that the "system" is only biased to the extent that the participants in that system allow it to be. In years past there were "systemic" barriers to success for Jews, Irish, Italians, Chinese and others. Just 70 years ago Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps just because they were Japanese. Such is the nature of a "melting pot". It seems that things don't get melted together without a good bit of heat. In all those cases, however, the aggrieved segment of society overcame the bias, integrated and thrived. I'd suggest that, on the whole, Blacks have also overcome the "systemic bias", integrated and thrived. The exception is a few pockets where that process has stalled. Perhaps we'd be better off to look at the "system" where those pockets exist rather than presuming the entire judicial system to be flawed.
