Race and racism are never easy topics to discuss, and good reasons exist for this fact. Some people do tend to get so emotional about the subject that the discussion becomes a rash of rhetoric.

On a liberally inclined campus like UCSB, said rhetoric always amounts to the “evils of whitey” and then turns into yet another round of a game I call, “Let’s blame the Republicans.” But the biggest reason for limited discussions on race and racism simply has to do with the fact that people will deny that they can be racist. It is an ugly title, but it escapes no ethnic group.

Several years ago in New York, a study was done to examine how race affects the political selection process of different racial and ethnic groups. When the results came in, some interesting trends emerged. The study, with the usual error margin of ±3 percent, showed white voters to be the most diverse in the selection of candidates, thus voting for equal numbers of black, Latino and white candidates across the board. White voters said that only agendas and platforms played a part in their decisions, not race.

Oppositely, black voters only voted for black candidates and stated that the only reason for their choice of candidate was because the candidate was black. Latino voters followed similar steps in voting as the white voters, but were not as apt to vote for black candidates. When they did vote for black candidates, they voted for those that seemed to show the least divisiveness in their views.

The question the study asked is this: Do selective voting patterns indicate racist tendencies or is this a pattern of preservationist behavior?

Fast forward to the recent comments by New Orleans Mayor Ray C. Nagin. Now, maybe I’m being a bit unfair here, as Mayor Nagin isn’t exactly what you might call the pointiest arrow in the quiver, but he is black, has black supporters and says things they like. And so the question is this: By claiming that New Orleans will be a “Chocolate City,” was the specter of racism invoked? Add to this the fact that Mayor Nagin was upset about Latino workers coming in to work on the much-needed repairs New Orleans requires. His remarks against the Latino workers were, in a word, racist.

The New Orleans mayoral race has just become open season for Ray Nagin, and the problem Nagin has is admitting that he raised the ugly stone of bigotry - nobody is exempt from this behavior.

In 1984, during the Democratic presidential primaries, the Reverend Jesse Jackson referred to New York as “Hymietown,” with reference to the Jewish population. In case you’re not aware, “hymie” is a derogatory term used to refer to Jews. His apology was feeble at best and all he actually apologized for was getting caught for what he said, not using the insult itself.

And so we come to our campus and community. There are not many black folks and it’s mostly white. But I have yet to hear a white person proclaim that Isla Vista or UCSB should stay a “Vanilla Villa.”

Racism, in its simplest definition, is the hatred of or discrimination against a race or ethnicity that is the opposite of or different from yours. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, red, yellow, pink or purple, if you make racially detrimental remarks about a race or ethnicity, then you are a racist, or a bigot at the very least.

The unfortunate reality is that some of those decrying racism contradict themselves with racist comments and, in the process, their credibility falters. The fact of the matter is that members of “minority” groups can be just as racist or bigoted as whites are made out to be. The immediate assumption that all white folks are racist is proof of this.

Some of the same people calling for “multiculturalism” are the first to use racist descriptions of whites as a platform. But wait, aren’t white folks part of the multiplicity of American culture? Basically put, there are no angels in the race game, as even some of those crying out against racism can be just as caught up in its detriments as those claiming that they keep them down.

American culture is a mixture of cultures. Get used to it and we’ll all get along just fine. Maybe someday we’ll even be able to sit down in this town or on this campus and discuss race and racism in a civil fashion. But, at the moment, that day seems very elusive. I’ll end by saying that I like chocolate and I also like vanilla as well as all the other flavors in the mix. After all, I’m caramel and that’s a mixture, something I’m not ashamed to be and never will be.

Henry Sarria is a long-time resident of Isla Vista.