There have been a notable amount of heavy-hitting diaries on Race in the past week or so on DKos, and this is my attempt to focus that energy toward what we're seeking: Progress.
(and frankly, I'm feeling a little beaten-up as a white guy myself).
Below is a story, where the community decides what the ending should be. I'll edit to analyze the results when they come in. I hope you're willing to participate, and truly hope the desired ending is the one I hopeful for. The optional answers are not exclusive in the sense that only the words written are what would happen; they mean everything that could reasonably be included in that option.
A Green man is walking through the forest. The Forest is the colored people's world; it includes all the colors of people and their livelihoods and society. The Forest has a unique feature; there is thick layer of Mist, mostly impenatrable by the eye, that lays about waist-height from the forest floor. Also, the people that inhabit the forest have an EXTREMELY difficult time crouching under the mist, because of their evolved anatomies; they experience the same difficult standing back up once they are crouched.
The Green is walking to his place of work one day, when a Blue man and a Green woman approach. The two say to the 1st Green: "You know, you're stepping all over Blues while you walk in the forest!"
The 1st Green was taken aback by this; he had heard similar rumor years ago, but his father "set him straight". His first question to the two that approached him: "How do you know? I can't see that."
The Green woman answers: "Several reasons. First, I've managed to stoop crouch down to see. There are Blues everywhere below the mist, crawling on their hands and knees, not going much of anywhere; that's why your walk is so comfortable, for if they weren't there, the ground would be harder and more difficult to navigate while going on your way."
The Green man pondered what the Green woman said. He then stated: "Well, I see Blue people here and there, walking around. I work with a few of them, although I don't see many where I live. Some of them seem to do very well for themselves though."
The Blue man piped in: "Some of us have been individually blessed with unique physical ability that allows us to stand up, above the mist. Others of us are uniquely intelligent enough to figure out how to use some of the things in the forest to help ourselves stand up, or to convince people of another color to give us a hand. Others are simply the children of those special, but few, Blues. Most of us, however, still crawl the ground, being stepped on every day, feeding off the scraps of food of those who are walking upright, suffering, not making it much of anywhere."
The Green man considered that what the Blue man said was a real possibility, but then he remembered what his father had told him, which he repeated to the Green woman and Blue man:
"My father told me this forest is free for anyone to stand up in, to work, to live, to make something of themselves; those that haven't, haven't tried hard enough. My father wasn't rich or gifted, and I don't really think I am either. Greens, Blues, Reds, Yellows, it doesn't matter, anyone can make it here, and people of all those colors have! Why aren't the Blue people standing up and making something of themselves?"
The Blue man, very patiently and kindly, said to the Green man:
"Is it a realistic expectation, to expect the Blue people, as a group in general, to be able to rise up, and make something of themselves and of their lives, when they are constantly walked on, eating unhealthy food (or not enough food), and under the Mist?"
The Green man immediately knew that his father's line of reasoning was flawed, and began to feel guilty, and motivated to help. The Blue man and Green woman saw these emotions on the Green man's face, and asked him to join their group. The Green man agreed enthusiastically, and asked: "So, what's the goal?" The Green woman answered: "Ultimately, it's to: