It would be great if we all could "ignore" race as a criteiron for discrimination.  Of course that is not the case.,  Racism is "alive and well" in America today.  Since the election of President Obama we've seen millions of internet posts attacking him with racist comments.  On a wider basis, the use of "code" words and references is widespread.  Additionally, it would be disingenuous to claim the far too frequent kilings of black men by police has absolutely no racial component.  

Racial identity and ethnic membership are real and we don't need to "ignore" them like they don't exist.  We do need to quit using them as the basis for discriminatory actions.