Race and Cowards?

How can americans of any color talk about race when things that are not even close to being racist are being called so and the person who says them are vilified.

Remember when Bill Clinton mentioned that Jesse Jackson won twice in SC, he was branded as racist. He might be wrong in his purely political calculation, but racist? how??
NYPost's cartoon, their politics not withstanding, is a insensitive comment on the pet chimpanzee, but how in the world can some one come up with the racist theory?

No wonder that Americans are scared to talk about the matters related to race. Can they afford not to be cowards?