As a person of color growing up in this society, race (or more accurately - skin color) is something that plays an important part in my life and isn't something I can avoid. It's also something that has shaped my politics and my view of the world. So I definitely acknowlege the fact that whenever I'm reading a person's comments on this board, I try to figure out the poster's race, and also, if possible, their class background. If it isn't obvious, I check out the user profile. Why? Because like I said, race defines, for a large part, who we are. It might not be by choice, but that's how we've been socialized. And seeing that a certain comment was posted by a POC as opposed to a white person definitely has an impact on how I receive it.