Integration

It is a natural  human reaction to fear and perceive differences between people. It is impossible to see a person of different skin color from one's own and not understand that difference. In today's America we are, for the most part, evolved enough in our thinking that race does not cause irrational hate. However, we still see race and it is something to be overcome in interaction between people of different skin colors. When a white man talks to a black man, they both see that they are different from one another, but the initial realization that there is a barrier between them that is their skin color does not inhibit them for more than a split second. True color-blindness visually, the quality of not taking race into account in anyway by not acknowledging it, is impossible because people will always see differences first and foremost. However, we are growing closer to the color-blindness that Malcolm X learned about in Mecca wherein race does not matter because it is accepted and any cultural barriers are overcome. Malcolm X said that all races are inherently different by virtue of who they are, but this is not cause for hate of any kind.
The white man began to subjugate the black man out of fear and a desire to better his own race. The evolutionary reaction to better oneself and care for oneself above those of different qualities is the root of this behavior. The white man felt he was better than the black man, but was afraid of him because of his differences from them. So he subjugated them without considering that the men and women he came across were in fact just that, men and women. Evolutionary principles hold up between species. Differences between humans are not cause for any kind of subjugation, physical or economic.
In America today we are accepting enough of these differences that they don't matter as deciding factors. Most people in America do not care if a politician is black or white, but care about his views and ability to get the job done. We are still working towards expunging the prejudices based in race that we still hold in our minds. America has overcome racism in most areas in that people are not denied chances based on race. However, chances are narrowed by that barrier between people of different skin colors. When there is an obstacle to be overcome that can be gone around simply people choose the route of least resistance. Unfortunately that barrier is not going to go down completely because race cannot be unseen, but the barrier can be changed to the same magnitude that it has for any man, white, black, or any race.
If two men are interviewed for a job what should happen is the interviewer should notice all discernible physical characteristics initially. Candidate one: white man, well-dressed, short hair, Armani suit, etc. The details don't matter. Candidate two: black man, well-dressed, short hair, Armani suit, etc. The details matter suddenly. The white man coughs in the interview and fails to cover his mouth. Little bacterium are breeding on all of the interviewers important papers. The white man wipes his nose with his sleeve. His sloppiness is manifesting itself, but he waves it off: "I'm sick, allergies." The black man is perfect for the job, yet the decision is difficult because of the barrier. The barrier needs to be taken down so that we notice race simply as a detail, a way to see people physically, not a way to define that person's personality.
A popular example of how race is at the forefront of our minds is the story that involves a black man and it starts like this: "So I was going home today and this black guy gets on the train." Why does it matter that he is a black man? It doesn't and it has no impact on the story. There is no problem with describing people physically unless consistency is lacking. When the same person tells a story starting like this: "So I saw this guy when I was walking home today," and the man was white, the barrier is making itself manifest.
Integration is possible and already very present, but the barrier between people is not where it should be. Race is still something outside of physical description and until it means nothing more than a possibility of differences between people culturally we are not a united race, a human race. Differences of ideas and beliefs are the only differences that should separate people, physically or mentally. We may be physically integrated in America today, but our mental integration is behind because of that barrier.