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Saaret Yoseph: Hi everyone! My name is Saaret Yoseph. I'm a writer and editorial assistant for The Root. I just wrote a piece for the site called, "Gen-Y and the Colorblind Lie" that discussed the misconceptions about my generation's perspective on race. I know it's a dicey and complicated issue, but I'm excited to talk to you all and have an open discussion about race in America.

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Mebrahtu Grmai: Hey everyone, my name is Mebrahtu Grmai. I am a recent graduate of UMBC, and a novice writer. I grew up around the melting pot of Montgomery and P.G. Counties.

I recently wrote an article for The Root, basically describing my sentiments towards the ever-debated "N" word. You could sum up how I feel by saying, I really don't care one way or the other if it is in our vernacular, for me (excuse my selfishness) it's lost its meaning. I just wish it was consistent. I think it should either be used by all, or by none. No middle ground. Basically, unless black people stop using it first, the word will endure.

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Bend, Ore.: How racially educated do you feel a white person can be solely through exposure to black media? Substantially different than one with black friends? Can you tell that someone asking a question like this is desperate for approval? Have you had a chance to hear Nas' new tracks?

Mebrahtu Grmai: If by black media you mean outlets like BET, then not very much at all. Granted that I have observed efforts made towards the educational or empowering side, the majority of programming still feeds directly into black stereotypes.

This creates another interesting problem, as some black youth (some not so young) are obviously emulating what they see on the tube. So even with a peer group comprised completely of African-Americans, one still may not be as racially educated as they hope.

That being said, having black friends, as silly as this may sound, if it is a truly natural and comfortable relationship, can highlight one's openness to different races. Not understanding the black experience and not wanting to understand the black experience are completely different.

And no, I couldn't tell someone asking a question like this is desperate for approval. Desperate for knowledge, maybe.

By the way, haven't heard the whole CD, only a couple tracks, and from what I've heard, Nasir Jones is on point, as usual.

Saaret Yoseph: I'm going to have to agree with Mebrahtu on this one, at least to some degree.

We both went to the same college and had a lot of moments like those mentioned by Dave Chappelle in his "Killing 'Em Softly" stand-up comedy show--"Dang, that was racist!" These are the moments when you just have no words; when someone not of your race does something or says something that unintentionally (or intentionally) offends you, but the sting of the offense hits you when its too late to respond.

That being said, my "Dang, that was racist!" moments were not always caused by white people.

Saaret Yoseph: I've been to parties where Indian guys have said the word "nigga" while singing along to rap songs or where they've strutted around with bandanas around their heads in the fashion of "gangstas" they saw on t.v. Seeing this would piss me off, to say the least, because I noticed the behavior would usually be exhibited by people who rarely hung around black people but did their best to "act black". In this case, I absolutely feel like approval is what is being sought out, but that's just because nowadays the mainstream concept of hip-hop is considered to be cool. In this sense, my peers were trying to be "cool" and not offensive.

The bottom line is, there is no need--for you or for anyone else-- to look for approval from black folks. Cool is not conscious and, in my opinion, a conscious perspective and a real discussion with other races and cultures is more important than some mainstream idea of what black is.

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Richmond, Va: How does social class fit into your thinking about the meaning of race?

Saaret Yoseph: When having a real and open discussion about race,the concept of class and division is ultimately laid out, as well. Social topics inevitably intersect with one another and I think it does us all a disservice if we attempt to look for "solutions" to any one problem (i.e. racism, self-imposed segregation, stereotyping/profiling, etc.) without considering the overlap and allowing ourselves to get confused.

Disparities in education, for example, are often classified as a rich or poor thing. Privileges with suburban schooling versus overwhelmed inner-city school systems. But, why are so many minority children lumped into the latter category? If we dissect a social problem like this and over-simplify it as just "a race thing" or "a class thing" then we're not really addressing the issue.

For honest dialogue to occur, we have to admit that society is just confusing as hell--social issues are never one-dimensional because people aren't one-dimensional. Race, social class--its all part of the same conversation. And I'm just glad that people are willing to talk.

Mebrahtu Grmai: I'm glad someone asked this, I always say that classism is becoming dominant over racism. But Saaret is right, the real issue becoming so convoluted now that its hard to tell whether its classism or racism that is the culprit. The only thing we can know that classism always will exist regardless of race. And racism will always exist regardless of class.

Honestly, I believe that classism and racism are so closely linked because they were forced to be. Black people were of a lower class by default long ago, and its understandably taking a long time to break free.

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Austin, Texas: The way we talk about race reflects how we experience race. I am a 45 year old black guy who has talked about race in black only groups and in mixed groups with whites. I would like to share a couple of general observations. First, blacks talk about race more than whites. Second, blacks talk about race differently from whites. This reflects differences in how blacks and whites experience race. I think that one indicator that we have overcome will be when we talk about race similarly.

In your experience do Generation Y blacks and whites talk about race similarly or differently? Do you have any thoughts about my observations?

Thanks.

Mebrahtu Grmai: Honestly I don't think most people are ready for that yet. What I've experienced is black people talking about race and white people listening. Theres no way that white people and black people can go through the same experiences, as you said, and once they do that will signify we have made an immense amount of progress.

Really, I think you answered your question before you even asked it. But its good that you brought it up, I don't mean my previous comment to indicate that there are no white people that can have a discussion with a black person about race. It's just really rare.

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Birmingham, Mich.: Whenever there is a discussion about racism it always seems to invoke Blacks and Whites. What about the racism of other ethnic groups including Jews towards Blacks?