race closes a lot of doors, like a lot. You can never truly take race away because of all that comes with it. It's not just hue, it's geography which then informs class, education and ultimately employment. Having said that I understand what he's saying about being the best version of yourself because the reality is that people react to adversity in different ways some people see that closed door and walk away, they fold and others knock and knock until someone opens, others take a step further and kick that door down and others go even further and build their own rooms so they don't have to knock on doors anymore.
The diaspora needs more knockers, kickers and builders and less walkers and unfortunately too many people are able to tell you how shyt is fukked up but they can't tell you what they're doing to change it. At the end of the day life has to go on and if the game is rigged to make sure you cap at 80 then at least do everything possible to get there so your kids can start off at 80 and go further. Generational curses have to break at some point.
The problem I have with what Kevin is saying though is that it's a diversion from race rather than confronting it. Like he's telling people that they should ignore race and work on themselves instead of building them up to do what they need to do to better themselves and others in spite of race. What I've learnt from people in my studies and since hitting the corporate world is that the people who think like Kevin and tell you to ignore race or to not use it as a crutch are the same people who tend to do very little to pay it forward and build other black people up when they succeed but that's from my own experiences.
So on a balancing scale with c00ning on one end and inconvenient truths on another I'd say Kevin is leaning 60/40 c00ning.
Edit: For clarity's sake when I say:
Knockers = I'm referring to people who enter white spaces like tertiary education institutions and the workplace and try to climb company ladders in an attempt to use money to get themselves and their families out of the malaise.
Kickers = activists, protesters etc the people who work to challenge/obtain political power to affect change.
Builders = entrepreneurs, business owners etc who put other people on.
