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In response to the original post: It makes about as much sense to be proud of your ancestry as it does to be proud of the fact that you have two arms and two legs. You have no control over it, so you neither gain nor lose character points.
On race and biology: race is purely a social/economic construct without any biological reality. There are utterly no biological divisions within the human species. We are all one human race.
On race in America: the divisions that the U.S. government imposes on people are both biologically and psychologically arbitrary. Consider that the category "Hispanic" includes Haitians (who may be visibly "black" with 100% African ancestry) but excludes Brazilians. One hundred years ago, it was common knowledge that Italians, Irish, and Jews were three different races. For the increasing population of mixed-race people, where do you draw the line?
On using race-conscious remedies of social problems: these are always going to be problematic because the whole concept of race and ethnicity is subjective and fluid. And they will always be divisive because they pit one group against another and their benefits are unmeasurable.
On racism: human beings are born with the innate knowlege that they are embedded within a social network in which it is necessary to form coalitions with allies against common enemies. If you have kids, you know that practically from day one of their social life they form coalitions against enemies. However, racism is not innate, it is learned. Children in mixed groups do not form coalitions based on "race" unless they are taught to do so.
If we want our children to be color blind as adults, we (including the government) should not teach them racial categories.
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