Am I guilty if I tell you this...?

While writing my last piece, "Affirm the actions of College?" about affirmative action I felt compelled to write a similar justification for my statements.  I deleted it before posting, but it got me thinking about this post.  this is literally copy and pasted from the end of my last post:

"To prove I am not a racist, my father's side of the family came to the US in poverty as refugees of World War II."

Why did I need to write that.  I don't know.  I think it is similar to the idea that after someone tells a black joke they feel compelled that they have black friends.  Race is a touchy issue and somehow claiming my relatives were persecuted is supposed to make me feel that I'm not racist.  I don't understand why I wanted to say that.  If you have any ideas that would help me understand my actions, please let me know.

I don't understand why having some sort of experience where you were subject to racism or classism makes you exempt from what you say.  It's similar to Micheal Steele claiming that an attack on Obama isn't racist.  He's black, so it must be OK.  Who is Steele to speak for the entirety of a race as to what is OK?  Who is Steele to speak for the entirety of oppressed groups?  Who are hip hop moguls who think that because they are black, they have the right to move stereotypes for their whole race forward?