Working at Croyden College has got me thinking. Many of the staff are liberals. They use terms like African-Carribean and not black.
Of course, I'm conscious there as well - conscious of the ethnic mix of the adults and kids - who are the students and who are the teachers. I am aware of groups of adolescent black boys. I look at the groups in the cafeteria, noticing groups sitting together that are mixed and the few that are just black or just white.
I notice 'race'. I am not colour-blind. I work with different groups differently - depending on their background - educational, ethnic, religious, class, location. I don't think that's racist. I think it's respectful.
There's a kind of liberal who disagrees.