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It happens because its part of our history. Oppression is a fact of life if you are a minority in the U.S., and trying to ignore or dispute that fact is just being dumb. Here's an example:
I had to take a trip to Seattle (Bremerton, to be more specific) this past weekend. I was sitting in row 8 of the plane, which meant I was one of the very last people to board (they do First Class, then go from the back of the plane, and row 7 is where first class ends). So, I'm watching as they are pulling people out of line for yet another security check. Lets see, first a black woman, then an asian male, then a black man, then an asian female, then another black female, and finally a middle eastern male. No white people were pulled out of line.
Here's another example. Before I got into the terminal, I had to go through the security checkpoint. I wear orthodics in my shoes, which are made of carbon fiber and aluminum. The thing goes off, and they do the old scan the body with the wand, take off the shoes, look inside of them, OK, see you later. The guy behind me looks a little like a Hell's Angel as depicted on T.V. So, they do the same thing to him, and of course he's wearing work boots, so they make him take them off. While they are checking them out, a police officer demands to see his ticket, asks him where he is going, why he is going, who he is flying with, all kinds of stuff, and it was just because of the way he looked. I ended up sitting next to him, found out he is one of the biggest (and richest) general contractors in Spokane, he makes upwards of $600,000 a year. He was dressed like he was because a lot of his guys were out sick, and he was just doing one of them a favor.
I'm not going to get into some major philosophical argument about what is good/bad/evil/racist, but I will ask this: I don't have any friends that would ever say "I'm proud to be white/black/green/aqua", because they know what a ridiculous statement it is. How can you be proud of something you did not determine? Moreover, saying that you are proud to be white, for examples, seems to indicate that there is something that your whiteness has done to make you a better person. I let go of even recognizing a persons color a long time ago. George Carlin also says that people should stop pointing out how we are all different, and start pointing out how we are the same. Like how we all seem to want to take that extra step going down the stairs, the one that isn't there, and we end up with our hips in our chests...or when you tell someone "you got something on your face RIGHT HERE", and they start wiping at every area of their face EXCEPT for the one you told them about! 
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