My working hypothesis of meaningful difference in problem definition

I am not really sure that I am typing what this is supposed to entail, but let me just make some general statements about what I think about certain areas of this topic and people can comment, and enlighten me from there.
I certainly do no pretend to know the hardships of feeling discriminated for my race. However, I sometimes feel that everything becomes an issue of race. I also feel that certain groups only make racial issues worse, such as the Black Panthers. I recently heard a former woman leader of the group, and it didn't take long before I felt like every person in the room that wasn't white, hated me. I had walked into the room with little mind to who I sat next to, white, black, brown, etc...it's all the same to me. But her speech actually made me think about that and look around halfway through just because I was so uncomfortable...she had brought attention to racial differences and widened the divide instead of bringing us closer together. So instead of being hated for what my ancestors did, I think it is more important to focus on the future.
I suppose my meaningful definition is that we need to offer aid to those that need it in order to get to level ground with the majority in this country, but avoid giving special privilages to people of ANY race because that sadly only creates resentment, and does not make problems go away.