As a comic and member of a multiracial family, I deal frequently with issues of race in my act and debunk myths.

For example, it is not true that all biracial toddlers can move objects with their mind.  On the other hand, I will tell you that our biracial 4-year-old can move my wife and me with his attitude.

Apparently some people think I talk about race too much.  One time an audience member came up to me after a show and said, “You talk about race too much.  When you look at your wife, you shouldn’t see color, you should see love.”

“Okay,” I thought.  “But, I have eyes, and she’s Black.”

I understand the point he’s making but where does it end?  Next time someone runs a stop sign or a traffic light should they offer as an excuse: “I’m sorry officer, but all those colors look exactly the same to me.”

So, my wife’s Black?  So I see that she’s Black?  So, I say that she’s Black?  So what? If I was married to a White woman with blond hair and blue eyes no one would say anything if I said, “Yeah, my wife is the Viking with the straw-colored hair, and the ice-blue eyes.”  In fact, no one would probably miss a beat if I said anything about the look of her “gazongas.”

But, somehow, I’m not allowed to say my wife’s Black.  And, I wonder whether it’s not because the so-called liberals who are policing my vocabulary aren’t a little bit racist themselves.

Because when someone (like the audience member I mentioned) says, “don’t see color,” what they’re really saying is “don’t see Black.” And, the reason they’re saying that is because despite how progressive and well-intentioned they may be, they’re still operating under racist assumptions.  In their minds, they’re equilibrating the word “Black” with the word “N-Word.”  They’re assuming that there’s no way for anyone to see or say “Black” without making the worst kind of racist assumptions. In so doing, they are demonstrating that they themselves are incapable of it, revealing their own racism.

The simple fact is, we will not have fully evolved as a society when it comes to matters of race until we can see skin color and describe it with no greater emotional attachment than we use to describe hair and eye color.  I’m not saying those are the same things.  People weren’t enslaved in this country because they had hazel eyes.  But, I am saying that racism will continue to elude resolution until people can honestly talk about race without reflexively snapping to judgments about people merely based on the words being used.

So, yeah, my wife’s Black.  My son is biracial.  We’re all Jewish.  That’s an interesting family mix.  It merits discussion not avoidance.

On the other hand, I will take under advisement whether I’ve reached a certain saturation level of fart jokes . . .  Nah, you can never have enough of those.