like you said the benefits and consequences of becoming more common participants in mainstream culture are stretching the culture, sometimes turing it's ear on practices or involvement in practices (clarence thomas, ward connelly, dr j owning a nascar team, denzel and holly winning an oscar) that 30 years ago might not have been acceptable. there seems to be a freedom of expression that wasn't possible or acceptable in years past, but it also brings into question the validity and the potential negative consequences of being free...it's life as an american in the 21st century....

maybe the values of the culture might see more similarities if the lines were drawn according to class than race. i guess another question is are blacks and everyone else starting to understand each other or are we just taking images of each other that are caricatures?

just a thought

obsidianchysalis