Wow, Cohen is a bigger moron than I initially gave him credit for:

>>>A cabdriver who passes up a young black male is seeing more than race. He is also seeing sex and age. The three together fit the profile of the most common type of Washington criminal, and the cabdriver acts accordingly. In a different city, a different kind of person would be passed up. The thinking that goes into that decision is quite different from the thinking that made white cabdrivers of old Washington pass up blacks of any sex or any age simply because they were black. It does no good to simply label as racist those whose motives are otherwise, those, in fact, who may be of the same race.<<<

Some might agree with this thinking it sounds reasonable. After all, racism between black and white has left whites jaded. Black commit a lot of crime in America so there you have it. Can't blame whites for being antsy. But let me introduce you to America's institutionalized racism when it is directed at Asian-Americans and let me do it by rephrasing Cohen's words. This form of racism is so touchy and so ingrained that many whites (males in particular) swear it does not exist or is at best merely a mild "cultural bias":

"A white man who sexualizes young Asian females is seeing more than race. He is also seeing sex and age. The three together fit the profile of the most common fantasy of a desirable female, and the white man acts accordingly. In a different country, a different kind of women would be sexualized. The thinking that goes into that decision is quite different from the thinking of white men who, say, sexualize Asians of any sex or any age simply because they are Asian. It does no good to simply label as racist those whose motives are otherwise, those, in fact, who may be of the same race."

Or let's word it another way:

"A white man who desexualizes the young Asian male is seeing more than race. He is also seeing sex and age. The three together fit the profile of the most common type of geek or nerd, and the white man acts accordingly. In a different country, a different kind of male would be desexualized. The thinking that goes into that decision is quite different from the thinking of white men who, say, desexualize Asians of any sex or any age simply because they are Asian. It does no good to simply label as racist those whose motives are otherwise, those, in fact, who may be of the same race."

IOW, it doesn't matter why it is done, it based on race—period—and is therefore racism. Cohen doesn't seem to get it and his reasoning doesn't sound liberal to me. It sounds perfectly colonialist and patronizing. Let's see how he likes being passed up on the streets or shooed from stores knowing it is because he is white. Let's see how he likes being bombarded by images of white women lusting after non-white men in movie, television, magazine, advertisements because they are clearly seen as sex toys for non-white men while white men are almost never shown at all and when they are, they are always sexless geeks who don't/can't date anyway. And I'll tell him, it's not just his race but his age and sex too. I'm sure he'll feel a whole lot better about it. IOW—that's just how it is so accept it and shut up and some of your kind even agree with me. Thanks for that oh-so-liberal perspective, Mr. Cohen.