More of us need to be aware that when we talk about race unselfconsciously we may inadvertently perpetuate the idea that it exists independently of our cultural and historical creation of distinctions among human beings. The terrible truth of human history is that we create distinctions to advantage some groups at the expense of others and to justify dehumanizing some people for the benefit of others. Language can manipulate our perspective on reality. That said, insisting on always bringing up this point does not make sense to me. As long as darker skin reduces people's chances of getting jobs and desirable apartments and correlates disproportionately with poverty, we have to be able to address the experiential reality of race.
Sophisticated analysis is crucial in many contexts, minimally relevant or distracting in others.
In this case, history trumps science. In fact, it's not even past. Because of advances in the twentieth century, I think that initial recognition carries substantially less freight than it did in 1900, but it is still potent. When a middle class black person walks into a newsroom, for example, race is noted and consequential adjustments are made. With poor blacks, it is even more telling.