I've heard this idea floated out there, that the prevailing wisdom these days is to oppose the idea of a colorblind, raceless society. This seems diametrically opposed to the idea of judging people "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." It appears that many self-proclaimed anti-racists have done a complete 180° turn from what was popularly supported during the peak of the Civil Rights era. The entire movement and narrative shifted over the past decades.
I think it's common sense. Our society still uses the same basic classifications related to these identity markers, and there are those who ostensibly have an interest in maintaining these classifications and the divisions they bring about.
I don't think anyone denies what has happened in this world, and in America in particular, racism was a significant part of our own underlying "identity" as a nation. Most people today recognize it as a monstrous and terrible wrong, a crime against humanity, and an atrocity which can never be forgotten. As you say, most people in modern society would like to see it eliminated.
But I also think that we should have a more objective and clear idea of where racism actually comes from and how it has manifested and continues to manifest itself in the present day. A lot of people seem to think that it's merely a matter of attacking the symbols, getting rid of Confederate flags and statues, and canceling anyone who says or does anything offensive or out of line - even if it means digging out decades-old high school yearbooks to find some public figure once dressed up in blackface. The idea is that they search far and wide to find anyone and everyone who might have said or done something racist, and then isolate them, expose them, shun them from polite society - and then, hopefully everything will turn out okay eventually.
I'm not sure if that approach has really been working. Nobody wants to be labeled a "racist," so it's not something that someone would consciously choose, would they? Do racists actually want to be racists, or have they been conditioned and brought up to think in such terms? Or is it something more sub-conscious? Or, if someone dresses up in blackface back in a time when they didn't think they were causing any real harm, does that put them in the same category as the KKK or the Nazi Party? Does that mean they're an evil person, completely irredeemable, and in a "basket of deplorables"?
There's a certain recklessness in that way of thinking that people should pause to consider.
