Okay, going to take a second crack at this.
I feel that this issue with race shares something with gender issues. The truth is that a person's gender does matter in some things, even when it would be better if it didn't. It also seems true to me that while we wish to discuss this matter, the sensitivity of the topic makes us reticent to speak our minds.
When I was doing Dan Ariely's Coursera series on irrationality, we were told about how people have difficulty conceiving of large numbers. This causes situations like people empathizing for one starving girl but not having as large an emotional response when confronted with the plight of a million people. There was research showing that the effect occurs even when the subject increases to just two people. I have a feeling that this effect also creeps up when we talk about sexism. It is difficult to connect with the concept of women being doused with acid for purposes of restoring honor or whatever; it's much easier to take one incident then make it representative of the whole struggle.
Still, I think there is value in the discussion generated with stuff like this, this, and this. So long as we don't get blinded to the forest the trees are part of.
...That turned out better than expected. But I think a third crack is in order. Watch for it.
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