10. When a young neighbor’s late evening parties continue well into the morning, and I, the Black tenant below, receive no response from the management, but the neighbor teasingly invites me to join the youthful gathering: “Hey, you know I’m a nice guy! I’m German!”

9. When a white woman informs me she is of Dutch stock, and adds, she is sure I know that “the Dutch had nothing to do with slavery.”

8. When a white woman from Wisconsin returns from a trip to New York City and announces to me: “There are Black people with dreads in New York!”

7. When whites are predominantly in attendance at an event or at a gathering for “any” and “everyone,” and each one introduces themselves to me with the #1 “liberal” slogan since Ronald Reagan’s inaugural” “I’m not a racist!”

6. When a white male, fellow doctoral student, asks me: “Are you an American!”

5. When a taxi driver, an older woman in a tiny town in Wisconsin, tells me: “You look like Whoopi Goldberg! I’ve got Whoopi Goldberg in my taxi!”

4. When I tell a young white librarian that my computer has chewed some music from my Real Player Playlist and I need help locating the CDs I borrowed from the library, and she, placing me in front of a computer, bends over my shoulder to inform me: “About that problem with your computer. You’ll have to call your cable company”!

3. When a white woman visits my house and gingerly steps around my cat’s toys and asks: “Are those real mice?”

2. When a white woman comes to my door, sees my cat is all white and ask: “Does he know you’re Black?”

And the #1 sign that let’s me know that Americans have transcended racism

1. When I hear that President Barrack Obama represents the legacy of the Black Radical Tradition - from Angela Davis!

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member and Columnist, Lenore Jean Daniels, PhD, has a Doctorate in Modern American Literature/Cultural Theory. Click here to contact Dr. Daniels.