My short comment:

Race as a characteristic of a human being need not be important when we are corresponding with each other in a non-color venue where we can simply speak directly to a musical point.
It of course is very important as a frame of reference regarding one's background, either from a view from the inside, or a view from the outside.

From Azizi's past posts I've already realized that race is very important to (her-I think)and whether it is fair to assume that it is always the case ("Azizi posting, must be a question of race"), Azizi has always been articulate and engaging in such matters and I guess she's going to write when she's so moved.

My background as American, Northerner, anglophile, francophile, slavophile, Jew, has definitely given me a realm of frames of reference which moderate what and when I write in. As for this thread, I've known black people at school, at work, casually, where race was a factor in our conversation, and of course, many cases where it wasn't. I guess I came to view black people to be as varied as any other folk, which means I've met all kinds of personalities under all kinds of skin. Found it all quite innerestin'.

Bottom line, I'm often interested in what Azizi has to say, and this thread has already proved provocatively interesting.

Well done.