A historical racist past cannot be undone by more racism. Martin Luther King's idea of a racist-free society had nothing to do with what Affirmative Action is. This heightened racial sensitivity causes more problems and tension than healing.
".... the stress on "diversity" has made interracial interaction strained and superficial; multiculturalism has caused political correctness".
Affirmative Action generates it's own sickness. The very people that benefit this program are now questioned as to their skill set and experience. "Were they just a shoe-in"?
My question is that, in this day and age, is it racism?

Of course it is.

And "yes", I've been the victim of affirmative action racism.

Hmmmm. First I think that it is important to establish exactly what MLK said and what words have been put into his mouth posthumously. Many people tend to attribute things to Rev. King to bolster their arguments especially when it comes to matters of race and racial interactions.

In your statements I can't tell what he said and what was the interpretation of his words. Rev. King never said a word about "Affirmative Action." The Affirmative Action programs and the designation itself were not even created until after his death. This other statement, "the stress on "diversity" has made interracial interaction strained and superficial; multiculturalism has caused political correctness," is also not a statement of Rev. King. He never used the word diversity in this context.

Now he also never worked toward a "racist-free society." All of his words and works wered dedicated to Justice, Equality, Compassion, Human (as opposed to racial)Unity, and Reverence to a Divine Power. Here are some of his actual words:

"Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most element of greatness — justice."
Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community? (1967), p. 109

"If a city has a 30% Negro population, then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only in menial areas."
from a 1968 Playboy magazine interview

His other most famous words on employment:
" We must create full employment or we must create incomes. People must be made consumers by one method or the other. Once they are placed in this position we need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted. New forms of work that enhance the social good will have to be devised for those for whom traditional jobs are not available."
Where Do We Go From Here? (1967)

"The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false. The tough-minded individual is astute and discerning. He has a strong austere quality that makes for firmness of purpose and solidness of commitment.

Who doubts that this toughness is one of man's greatest needs? Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."
Strength to Love (1963)


"Throw us into jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence at midnight hour to beat us till we are half-dead, and we shall still love you. Be assured that we shall wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your hearts and conscience that we shall win you over in the process and our victory shall be a double victory."
Statement after his release from the Selma Alabama Jail (1965)

And finally the words that led to the decision to have him murdered as an "Enemy of the State"; also from "Where Do We Go From Here?" (1967)
"Don't let anybody make you think God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems I can hear God saying to America "you are too arrogant, and if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God. Men will beat their swords into plowshafts and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations shall not rise up against nations, neither shall they study war anymore." I don't know about you, I ain't going to study war anymore."

Of course this preceding comment sounds very similar to the words of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Like many of Martin's last statements they were universally criticized and marginalized. I don't think that he would have been in favor of Affirmative Action. He operated from a much higher standard than that of a "spoils" system in which individuals of any race were entitled to a portion of the economy as a matter of birth. He would have seen the AA system as being a component of the racist system of inferior education, inferior opportunity, and inferior rights as citizens endured by Black folks. These inferiorities are what keep the masses of Black Americans locked into 2nd class citizenship. We wouldn't even have discussion of the need for Affirmative Action, if it there was a guarantee that Blacks had received a full and equal educational opportunity to whites. The "supposition" that Blacks are in a position as a result of "favoritism" or quotas is a direct reflection of the awareness of White America of the inferior education and environment that Blacks grow up with.

Biting sarcasm comes withg age and maturity.

We elected Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt (either one), and Johnson (Imagine the record Lyndon would have had sans Vietnam)but then . .

We went daft and elected the likes of Nixon, Carter and Bush 1and 2.

Campaigns are different, they are media popularity contests. While Clinton and Obama beat each other up, McCain (maybe with Huckabee) is biding time his time and loving every minute.

Why not just have an "American President" TV show, we can cast our votes online.

hmmm

Racism is real. And if anyone things its a made up problem experienced by only a selected few...you need to really listen.

Folks don't cry racism for shits and giggles....

People are held back because of race...and I will say its not only a "black" problem.

The key to race relations is becoming aware of a problem and not pretending its not serious. Denial will not make racisim vanish. Education, communication and awareness will help heal this aliment that impacts ALL Americans.

Blacks need to realise they are not alone in racism. Whites need to realise they are not ALL being blamed for the sins of a few, who unfortunate are very influential in affecting various TYPES of folks.

Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, Poor whites, women, gays and disabled are often treated poorly by those in power.

Folks when are we going to look for a solution?

I suggest rather then play mud games...let's focus on developing a solution to SOLVE the race problem.

The problem will not go away by telling blacks its all in their heads....and definitely it won't go away if we fail to recognize that generalization hurts every race.

At this point in American history is the problem is not about who caught the first slave....or who made fun of whites...but rather HOW can we solve the problem.

We are all aware of the history of racism, and that history will haunt ALL people.

Now, history needs to be a place of learning so we can create a better future....

I say can we start today? how do we heal race relations?...hmmm I say a new thread

"They have and still continue to create this animosity between blacks and whites because as long as we can make blacks the scapegoat, poor whites will never realize that they are being screwed by OTHER WHITE PEOPLE. "

You have in this statement given the very reason my State of West Virginia has never had a significant racial problem. In this State, where in some Counties, 70-80% of the land area is owned by Corporations headquartered elsewhere, all workers were in the same pot. Everyone was crapped on and used with no discrimination whatsoever. Coal was king, and to a great extent, still is king. Some years ago, we elected a Governor who stood up to the coal and other big interests. He ended up driving a taxi in Chicago.

While working in Southern WV with a Black man named Perry, the white lady we were talking to asked "Did you say your name was Perry? That's my maiden name, we might be related." There were, it seems, "Light" Perry's and "Dark Perry's", the result intermarriage among the labor brought into the area to build railroads and mine coal years ago. "I owe my soul to the Company Store" has more truth than you can imagine.

There were "Colored" Schools and "White" schools. Integration was no big deal from my experience, aside from the irate Black teachers and parents of the junior high I attended, who were concerned their standards would be lowered. (Yeah, lowered!) All in all, though, West Virginia Schools taught the three R's - Readin, Rriting and the Road to Ohio.

We grew up with this kind of equality, the have and have-nots, most of the rest of the US did not.

Now, as jobs are being lost nationwide, the poorer are loosing ground, and are turning on each other. When the pie is to small for everyone to eat his fill, there's a fight to get a slice. You tend to blame the other man, the Black, the Jew, the Mexican, the Hispanic, anybody.