After a conversation I had with a black coworker several years ago, I’d have to agree with Coates.
The man mentioned to me that black families discussed the “C” word around the dinner table and at gatherings.
I asked if he was talking about “Caucasians.”
He lowered his voice and looked back and forth, then said, “No, ‘Cracker’ “
He seemed disbelieving when I told him my white family never sat around and discussed black people, but we talked about our own family, what we were doing, our lives, our goals.
I have had similar conversations.
Everything is about race. Everything.
They are often shocked when I say we really don’t talk about it. One tried to tell me it was racist NOT to talk about it.
At some point, you need to move beyond it. The African immigrants honestly HATE to talk about race. They don’t care.