American RACE Relations = Not So Much.

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Hopefully, this didn't stem from BLACK BELT JONES being honored as one of the 50 worst movies ever made. For those of you that haven't heard, self-proclaimed "God of the Universe" Kenneth Eng (who happens to be Asian, obviously) wrote a piece for San Francisco's Asian Week entitled "Why I Hate Blacks." How this slipped past the editors is beyond me.

Of course, the clean-up crew has come out in FULL FORCE. After the fact, Asian and Black local leaders held a press conference to make the following obvious statements: Kenneth Eng will no longer write for Asian Week. The editor who allowed the piece to run SHOULD be fired. I hope we will use this incident as an opportunity to open up much needed dialogues between the Asian- and African American communities. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Racial tensions aren't new news. However, when they become so blatant, they force themselves upon us and the news media. Why do we always wait for the inevitable boiling over to begin to address these issues? Does it really take Michael "KKKramer" Richards to let us know that black and white folks may have some issues to work out? Does it really take Paris Hilton to elucidate the lack of communication between the black and white communities? Was it necessary for Mel Gibson to alert us to the fact that Christians and Jews may have to iron out some differences? Did it take the senseless murder of a 14 year-old Black female at the hands of a Latino gang member to get the Black and Latino communities at the same table? Does America need Kenneth Eng to help us realize that the Asian and Black communities have some talking to do?

Yes. Apparently, the answer is yes. People, we have a lot of growing to do. When the only interracial dialogue we take part in is whether we want fried rice or white rice with our General Tso's, we've got a problem. When the only interracial dialogue we take part in is you-pay-now-or-leave-store, we have a problem. We're all of the same stuff, people. We're all of the same stuff.

Peep these insightful post-Kenneth Eng posts:

• Oliver at Poplicks DOT COM speaks the truth.
• Jeff Chang says Asian Week is Dead.
• Gawker helps bring Asians and Blacks together.