Whenever a minority starts preaching about the plight of not being white in America, you can just imagine the collective eyes of nearly all Caucasian, middle-class suburbanites rolling back into their heads.

For once, though, stop and listen. Try to comprehend what these people are talking about. Their complaints are founded — a fact it took me until this semester to realize.

Nothing has been as controversial in America’s history as our race problem, specifically between blacks and whites. Like a good, ideological student, I have always maintained that being colorblind is the best option. This means seeing people for who they are, not what their skin color is.

But because of America’s torrid racial past, I realize this is just not possible. Like most Caucasians, I am blinded by the fact that I have no idea what it is like to face racial injustice.

I hate to say it, but as a group, white Americans are ignorant, lack sensitivity and in many cases, are downright stupid when it comes to equality issues in America.

Equality may have been the goal of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, but it was merely an empty promise. Some of the elites who signed the document owned slaves themselves. We know from historical documents and through Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” that African slaves were treated unfairly, and in some cases, brutally.

Whites argue that we have come a long way since slavery. Yes, we have. Is it far enough? Not even close. When I can sit in my bedroom and hear my roommates’ friends say a derogatory term about a black guy that I refuse to repeat , we still have a long path to justice in front of us.

Ending slavery did not end racism toward black people. From literacy tests to poll taxes to the Ku Klux Klan to “separate but equal,” bigots have found ways to express their hate.

This continued oppression is causing a disproportionate number of poor blacks. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “the poverty rate for blacks remained higher than the rates for people of other racial and ethnic groups in 2001.” Black men also on average earn less for the same job than white men.

Disparities can also be found in capital punishment statistics. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, 41 percent of death-row inmates are black, even though blacks only make up about 12 percent of the entire national population.

Not surprisingly then, blacks are much less in favor of the death penalty than whites. Only four out of 10 blacks support the death penalty in the case of murder, as compared to seven of 10 whites (General Social Survey, 2000). Inequities such as these played a part in former Illinois Governor George Ryan’s decision to commute 167 state death sentences.

One might wonder, after noticing in my mug shot that I am a little white girl, why I am lecturing about the treatment of blacks. Quite honestly, I may not be the best person to speak of the woes African-Americans and other ethnic groups in America endure. Despite having friends of many different backgrounds, I am completely European-American.

But a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis I found myself understanding minorities’ situation, at least understanding it better than I ever had. I was in a session at a journalism convention where we brainstormed traits of a fictional character — for what purpose, I never quite figured out. But there was a black woman in the room who was visibly and vocally annoyed with the character being created.

By the time we got to the fourth trait the woman demanded to know what color our fictional man with brown hair and blue eyes was. Automatically, I rolled my eyes. I wondered why the race of a fictional character was important.

Despite how annoying I found this woman to be, I attempted to keep an open mind. It didn’t take me long to realize that the race of our guy was important because her race had impacted her life.

Unlike me, this woman has felt racial injustice. She knows what it is like to be discriminated against. Her race dictates the way she lives. She can’t be colorblind because she is seen as different.

Nor can the rest of us truly be colorblind yet. Americans still see other ethnicities differently and reject what is different.

Instead, these distinctions should be embraced so we can better understand each other. Until this goal is accomplished, blacks and other minorities will be held back and continue to be targets for racism. In turn, the growth of our society will be inhibited, something we certainly can not allow to happen.