“Black hole” is a noun. It is defined as “a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong light cannot escape it, and is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star,” according to Merriam-Webster.com.

Notice that the definition of a black hole contains nothing that reads like: a prime opportunity to play the race card. It’s just not in there. Any attempt to construe the use of the black hole to having some kind of racial connotation is an outright attempt to play on white guilt and use said race card.

“A graduation card sold at local stores has been pulled from shelves after a civil rights group raised concerns about the content. The group claims the card’s micro-speaker plays a greeting that’s racist,” according to a Los Angeles local ABC station. The NAACP is angry because the card references black holes, and to them it sounds like the card says “black whores.”

I refuse to take the behavior of the NAACP seriously. Slavery was a horrible thing that happened in this country, and I’m not trying to minimize that.

I have ancestors that were American Indians, and they were exterminated. I don’t cry about that, because it happened a long time ago. I don’t try to guilt anyone when I literally have no idea who they were or where they were from.

Likewise, I don’t let people guilt me about how I helped the U.S. military in Iraq. I’ve pondered deeply if what we did there was right or wrong, and I’ve even sat and listened to a professor tell me that any soldier in war time would commit rape if they had the chance.

Did I get offended? No, because I have more going on in my mind than looking for ways to try to twist things around on people to make them feel bad for me.

I don’t appreciate it when people play the race card. I’m a blunt, outspoken, and open-minded person. If I had a problem with someone because of their race they would know because I would tell them. When the NAACP played the race card, it seems they assume white people hold some kind of ill will, some kind of hidden racism in their heart or they are trying to make white people feel bad about slavery.

Slavery happened a long time ago. I didn’t have anything to do with it. My parents never owned slaves, my grandparents never owned slaves and I certainly don’t own slaves. When someone says, “This is what your people did to my people,” I want to grab them and say, “We’re brothers, why would you draw a line in the sand between us?”

Not only do I not feel bad, I’m completely OK with saying I don’t feel bad. If you take part in the kind of ignorance that we’re supposed to be fighting by feeling bad, you’re being stupid.

The real issue in this country is class. I have more in common with working class people of any race than I have with rich white people. Forget about the race war and embrace the class struggle, because a united front will be necessary.

Why is playing the race card OK, but bringing up how Marxism critiques of capitalism have merit causes a ruckus? Why do I end up yelling at some people, trying to explain that we do not have a free market economy? I don’t understand how so many people still don’t get it.

Racism still exists. It’s still the epitome of willful ignorance. Classism is the real issue underscoring our lives. So don’t push the race card toward me. I accept you for who you are. Accept that I accept you so we can move forward to fixing our culture.

Not black culture, not white culture, but our culture, our society.