Racism in America

We viewed the clip from "Katie" on "Race in America," and have been discussing racism in class. Katie Couric open the show with the question, "Why is it so hard to talk about race in this country?" Travis Smiley responds, "Racism is still the most intractable issue in this country. For a lot of reasons, we don't want to go there, to have the kind of difficult, unsettling conversation that causes us to face these inconvenient, hard truths about the fact that in the most multicultural, multiracial, multi-ethnic America ever, we still don't see each other at equals." Do you agree or disagree with with Mr. Smiley? Do you agree with some of his points, if so which ones (same if you disagree). Why do you think he believes that a conversation about race would be so unsettling and difficult? What would make such a conversation easier and smooth? Please respond in at least a one page thoughtful, thorough essay.