It never fails to amaze me how oblivious to race people truly are. Lets take CNN’s new minority special, “Latino in America.” “What’s wrong with it?,” you may be asking. Well, let’s start with the comparison of this to the highly controversial and stereotypical “Black in America” parts one and two.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that part one only exploited and confirmed every stereotype known to man in regards to black people, part two was no better. Instead of showing the prominence of black people and the struggle to be equal, CNN took people out of the “American hood” and placed them in “African hoods” so that they could better appreciate the luxuries of living in the American ghettos.

They wanted the kids to see what “real poverty” was like. I didn’t know CNN was the authority on what it means to live in poverty. How rude is it of anyone to say that one person’s suffering is less severe than someone else’s?

Wow, really noble of you, CNN.

The only thing about “Black in America 2” that was worth anything was the different aspect of reporting that was done, showing the changes that are taking place in the Black community. This only happened after thousands of people fussed that the first “Black in America” just raised more questions than it answered.

Now, we have “Latino in America.” I went into it expecting the exact same thing, but trying to be non-biased, as I had already formulated my opinion. I was blown away at the complete difference of the shows.

For one, it was marketed differently. Just look at the trailer for “Black in America,” then compare it to the same for “Latino in America.” In my opinion, solely my opinion, the preview for Black in America makes it seem like every black person is struggling, and that it is a burden to wake up and be black.

The trailer for Latino in America makes it seem like Latinos are just trying to find themselves in the mainstream and preserve their culture. It even says “soon the minority will become the majority.” One of the phrases for “Black in America” was “why do you hate me because I’m black?”

These are two totally different perspectives on very similar issues, all done from the same network.

It is absolutely great that CNN wants to spotlight what it means to be a minority in America, and I’m sure there will be an Asian in America, and a Native American in America, and so on. But here is the real point: it only means something to be a minority in America because it means something totally different to be white in America.

We live in a country of double standards. A country where, believe it or not, your skin color really does matter. All of these minority specials were only made for one group of people, and that would be white people.

Minorities of all types may have different cultures and backgrounds, but we all share in the exact same struggle – the struggle to become equal to our white counterparts. I don’t need CNN to tell me what it’s like to be Black or Latino in America when I grew up in a neighborhood of nothing but minorities who all worked equally hard for the exact same goals, went to the same churches, bought food from the same stores, worked in the same places, and were discriminated against equally.

This is purely insulting to minorities when CNN only chooses to show the lives of the most broken-down blacks, or the most distant Latino children, or any other main stereotype of a minority. But to white people, it’s like watching a profile on “the other people” so they can sympathize and understand and try to make us feel like they share our issues. They don’t.

So CNN, I would just like to know, where is “White in America?” I want to know what it’s like to wake up everyday having the advantage, to not have to deal with racist cops, to not have to work three times harder than everyone else just to get noticed. I want to know how it feels to get a job with a C- average over people with 4.0’s just because I look like the interviewer does. What is it like to be in charge of everything despite not being the majority of anything? How does it feel to just be on the top?

“White in America,” the groundbreaking, earth shattering, this is what it’s really like, documentary … where is it?

• Dexter R. Mullins