and it fits perfectly into koala's theory. The divide and conquer method did not only divide blacks from each other (men vs. women, light vs dark, free vs. slave, militant vs peaceful), but divided the oppressed blacks from the poor whites who were to a far lesser extent oppressed also.

It's essential to study how the black/white thing played out in other countries of the diaspora, too. don't think that the US is the only country that's still "recovering" from the repercussions of centuries of slavery. Read about Brazil, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guyana, etc.

the Dominican Republic in particular shows you that "white" is something that doesn't exist. Many light-skinned mulatos there deny their African heritage are considered white and enjoy the privileges that go along with it. You can tell after learning more about this that interracial mixing will not end racism, it just expands the definition of white to include more people to maintain a white majority, just like Koala points out that the definition of white in the US has grown to include Southern Europeans, Eastern Europeans, and even Jews, whereas those were all 2nd class citizens 100 years ago.

But still, someone who's 3/4 "white" and 1/4 "black" is black. In Haiti, if you're 1/4 white, you're a mulatto and enjoy the privileges that go along with that, which can include speaking "real French" and getting an education in France or the US. But any NOTICEABLE amount of African heritage makes you black in the US... I think this is changing though.

Now, there's even a "race" called Latino, which isn't a race by any definition of the word. But "white" latinos can assimilate into "white" American society, and so can Asian-Americans if they try. It's really weird when you think about it, but it makes perfect sense. Soon, Mexican-Americans will be a "majority", and I guarantee that the definition of "white" will expand again to include Latinos and Asians with money and maybe even mulattoes from the 'burbs. I know "white" has already started to include more than just people with purely European descent, because white folks assume I'm one of them.

This gets way more complicated, just wanted to get $0.02 off my chest (love mixing my metaphors).

THE MOST OFFENSIVE QUOTE EVER:

"I'm an intellectual..." - Nas