Just looking at the title of each article brings back vividly the story it told. I'm thinking of the two Cuban immigrants who, while living in Cuba, were friends and put nationality over color. The same theme also came through, though less directly, in the article on undercover police in New York City. The minority undercover agent experienced bias and discrimination, but viewed that his white female boss faced it to a greater degree.
Societies use hierarchies to make the world understandable and manageable.
A striking characteristic of the series was how personal it was, probably because the reporters spent so much time in the communities they observed. As a result, no one was being politically correct - they were being honest and direct, sometimes bitter, sometimes generous, but always genuine and outspoken. My overall impression of the people profiled was one of resigned acceptance to the tough realities of race, but dealing with it as best they could. That touched on something that is missing in the national debate and is perhaps just starting to come through in our discussions - those personal experiences and emotions that are usually kept under the surface but have to be openly discussed to move the topic from the intellectual to the practical arena. Most of those experiences and emotions stem from fear, and irrational fear tends to dissipate when contradicted by personal encounters.