Does being from a different race mean you can't understand?

I hear this statement quite often from some people of color and some whites. The constant believe that we all see things through different lenses. That black people and white people view the world in different contact lenses. That white people can never understand what it's like to be black in this world, and that black people can never understand what it's like to be white in this world. Do you all believe this to be true?


I surely don't. History has proven time and time again that even though we might not directly be inflicted by the hurt, we have the compassion for our fellow man/woman to dive into their cause and fight battles together as humans. Quite often you will see some blacks blame whites for slavery, but rarely would you ever see some blacks give credit to the whites who were against slavery. It usually take one of our caucasian brothers or sisters to bring it up, just for it to be acknowledge. True, there were whites who fought in the war for different reasons other than slavery, but that does not mean we should discredit the whites who fought and died bravely along their black brothers so that we can be free.

The same, and to a greater degree comes with the civil rights movement. Whites were willing to be considered traitors by their own race as they were hosed down with their black brothers and sisters. They had the compassion to know that even though the discrimination did not effect them, they wanted to stand up for what was right.
So if some whites could relate to the issues of the past, why is it so improbable that they cannot relate now.

The biggest issue that prevents us from understanding one another is communication, or the lack of it. Often, I have seen sides only wish to talk, and not take the chance to listen to each others perspective. When your only interested in telling your side of the story, than your not open to what can be a different side to the issue. So because of this, you relate to those who only have the same belief as you. In my opinion, this is partially how the racial divide is created. So only when we truly exercise what it really means to communicate can we understand each other even though we are of different "races".