Nice article (as usual, if true). Minor nitpick:
Anyway, this is an important problem that I'm working on, but literally I can only make a difference for my county in my state, and it's clear that the problem is everywhere.
I think you mean "in the US" - things are different in France, or in Finland, or in Japan, or in China. You may see some similar patterns, but I think the whole "black/white" thing is pretty specific to the US; you get complicated relationships between ethnic groups in many countries, but they work differently (look at Belgium, or Ireland, or Canada, or China, or Rwanda, or Egypt, or Singapore - though Australia seems to be one of the rare countries comparable to the US).
I think taking a more international perspective is useful not only to be more accessible to non-US readers, but also to detach the issue from local politics (especially with examples from countries whose politics are quite different), and get a larger sample size in which it's easier to see which theories hold water.
though Australia seems to be one of the rare countries comparable to the US
That doesn't seem right. Australia's "black" group (which isn't labelled 'black') is more closely analogous to Native Americans than African Americans in history and current status in ethnic politics. It would be altogether ironic to equate Australian Aboriginals with African Americans simply because they have similar skin color.
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