Bill - I agree with you about it being made to matter.

I've been thinking about the people I know and those who I see in the news and really feel that the physical appearance of those around me really isn't as important as the person wrapped inside. Yes, appearance can be used as a point of reference, but that is all it is and all it should be.

The best neighbour we have in our street is 'black'. I just think of him as Mike - who has made us a bit of a project, checking up on us during snowstorms and the recent Nor'Easter. Mike never seems to have to identify himself as a black person - he's quite comfortable in his own skin and colour has never been something that has been raised as an issue. I note his colour in the same way as I note that one of my best friends here has dark hair and eyes. It's just a way to describe them to another person. Otherwise it means very little to me and, it seems, to them. There are a few people for whom I have no tolerance at all, here and in the UK. I dislike them because of their behaviour, not their appearance.

Same on the 'Cat - there are posters whose posts I don't read because I find them not to my taste - I don't know if they are black, white or what.