Soon after America elected its first black president, pundits and politicians began proclaiming that America was now post-racial or beyond race. If it wasn't obvious at first, as the months wore on, it was clear that we weren't.

President Barack Obama spoke out about racial profiling, and it almost derailed his efforts to reform our health care system. A clip showing USDA official Shirley Sherrod talking about racism was taken out of context, and she was fired in a harsh rush of judgment because the conservative movement in this country is using the threat of reverse racism as a political strategy.

Soon, the phrase, "We need to have an honest conversation about race," also became a part of the national dialogue. There was, however, no movement toward that goal.

Angela Glover Blackwell (pictured above), founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity through policy solutions, has decided to do something about the issues of race in this country.

Earlier, Blackwell had written a book called 'Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America's Future,' with Stewart Kwoh, founding president and executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and Manuel Pastor, professor of geography and American studies, and ethnicity at the University of Southern California and founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Now the trio is using the book to host a six-week virtual book club called Race and America's Future Virtual Book Club. Their discussions will take place every Wednesday for six weeks starting today.

"By 2050, people of color will be the majority in our country – and yet there remains so much work ahead to fix the deep-seated inequities that persist in our economy, our institutions, our schools and our communities," said Blackwell.

Blackwell sat down with BlackVoices' Jeff Mays for a discussion about race in America, including why being post-racial is not necessarily a good thing and what we need to do to deal honestly with the legacy of racism in our country.

Angela Glover Blackwell on Race & America's Future from PolicyLink on Vimeo.

Black Voices: Is America post-racial?

Angela Glover Blackwell: After the election of Barack Obama, America wanted to quickly move to a discussion about being post-racial, as if we had put the racial problems behind us. If anyone thought that was possible in November of 2008, it clearly is not the reality today. Race is very much in our faces. There is change afoot in terms of diversity and the progress made, but one of the things you have to pay attention to if you are serious about looking at race and ethnicity in America is that while some people have leaped spectacularly over the barriers of race -- President Obama being one of them -- many people are being left behind. Sadly, many black and Latino males are at extreme risk of not being able to fully participate, reach their full potential and ending up in jail. In the book, we acknowledge those people that have made progress but really focus on the people who are Asian, Latino, African American, Native American who are still suffering from discrimination today, and who are still carrying the legacy of discrimination with them in terms of the communities they live in.

BV: Is post-racialism a good thing?

AGB: It is premature to declare America post-racial. In terms of whether or not we ought to aspire to be post-racial, if that means a society in which all can participate and prosper without really carrying a heavier burden than any others because of their race and ethnicity, then of course that is something we ought to aspire to. But you have to put this in front of you before you put this behind you. We, as Americans, have not put race up front. We haven't acknowledged the burden that people carry because of the legacy of discrimination. We haven't acknowledged continuing discrimination even though the most hate crimes and the most housing discrimination happen against people who are black. In a society in 2010 in which that is true, clearly we are not ready to say we are post-racial.

BV: What issue is most affected by race in this country and why?

AGB: Education. Until the United States of America deals with the disparity in terms of educational opportunity, the disparity in terms of investment in education and the disparity in terms of outcomes in our educational system, we will not fully be able to include low-income people of color in the future of America in a productive way. Education is the No. 1 issue, and everyone knows that.

In addition to focusing on school reform and making sure the schools are the best they can be, we also have to acknowledge the need for comprehensive education, like the Harlem Children's Zone does in New York. Geoff Canada and his colleagues at the Harlem Children's Zone have not only invested in a high-quality first-rate school in Promise Academy, but they start at pregnancy with women in the neighborhood, making sure they get prenatal care and that they understand how, from pregnancy, to prepare your child for college through diet.

They have activities for young people to be able to explore their artistic and other abilities. And they really surround children with all the stimulation and support they need to be successful. That kind of comprehensive approach is what families with resources have been doing for decades, but we have not been providing that same thing for low-income families. Green jobs, immigration, climate change, incarceration and healthy metropolitan communities are important, but the No. 1 thing is to make sure all of our children are prepared to reach their full potential.

BV: Why is it difficult to have a healthy conversation about race in America?

AGB: It is difficult to talk about race in America, because it is so full of sensitivities. For white people, sometimes the conversation produces a feeling of guilt or a fear that they will say the wrong thing and end up getting called on it. Some people feel we are post-racial and there's nothing more to talk about. Those are three things that keep white people out of the conversation.

For black people, it is a painful conversation. As black people try to bring up racial issues, they often get accused of playing the race card or what they say gets dismissed or they are accused of being overly sensitive or making excuses. No one wants to have that accusation thrown at them when they are just trying to bring up a reality for all to see.

For Latinos, they get caught in the middle of feeling the conversation is too much black and white and not wanting to be accused of taking away the problems having to do with black people but trying to show their journey has been different. It's often difficult to try and figure out how to lift up the racial conversation when the conversation for Latinos is about language, immigration and being integrated into communities in ways that respect their assets.

For Asians, they get accused of being the model minority. What are you complaining about? Aren't you doing better than whites in some of these areas? And for Native Americans, they feel it is outrageous, given what they have suffered in terms of being treated in ways that are outrageous, such as being murdered, that their conversation seems to be the last anyone wants to bring up. For all of those reasons, it is difficult to talk about race. We can't let that difficulty stand in our way. Lots of people want to, which is why we are starting a virtual book club to use the book as a way for America to engage in this conversation.

BV: Tell me about the virtual book club.

AGB: We want this to be a productive, thoughtful, probing conversation. What we are hoping is with the video presentation from the authors on each chapter, and with us probing some particular questions, we want to encourage people who want to be in a thoughtful conversation about how we understand race in America as it relates to progress and inclusion, and how we lift up the policies we need to follow.

I am the founder of PolicyLink, an organization that tries to utilize policy to produce practical solutions to inequality in America. We want to make sure that the policies that we are proposing make sense to people who are suffering the impact of being left behind, discriminated against and feeling the environment they are operating in doesn't help them reach their full potential.

Manuel Pastor runs a center at the University of Southern California that focuses on regional equity and environment. Stewart Kwoh runs the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. The three of us come at this not as writers of fiction and not just as people who talk about the issue but as people who are advancing, through advocacy and policy and research, an agenda to build a fully inclusive America.

We are hoping to attract people to this conversation who wish to have that conversation about race. It's not about trying to one-up one another or purge the hurt and anger we feel, but rather trying to think together about what we can do with the policy moments we have at our local communities, state and national level. How can we bring one voice that is going to build a fully inclusive America, where we can all prosper? That's our goal. I hope people will join us and see how we do.

Visit the Equity Blog today for the first of six virtual book club sessions.