Well-written piece. Personally, I’m on the fence about the idea of erasing the concept of race entirely from our vocabulary.

It’s possible that in some areas of society we place too much importance on race, such as on firearms applications and mediation intake forms. That being said, does it make sense for us to act like no differences in complexion exist between humans? Health-wise, such differences actually have some relevance, such as whites being more vulnerable to melanoma and blacks being less able to produce Vitamin D. Just because we acknowledge this doesn’t by necessity mean that we hold others in greater or lesser regard due to their race. Intellectually, all racial groups are still equal, and all can procreate with each other; we’re not different species of humans.

But I appreciate the sentiment of Morgan Freeman’s thoughts, and I think they’re very reasonable. I honestly wouldn’t mind if we replaced the word “race” with something that has less historical baggage. Either way, it’s unfortunate that today there are those who claim to fight against racism and yet categorize people based on presumed privileges and setbacks associated with race. We won’t move towards calling ourselves simply the human race with that sort of thing going on.