Last Friday was the final performance of my school play, Noises Off (one of the reasons I was unable to submit a column last week).

For those familiar with that particular British farce, I played Poppy.

For those who aren't familiar, Noises Off is a play within a play; it is the story of an incompetent British theater troupe attempting to put on the show Nothing On and failing miserably.

My cast totaled nine people and one sweet-as-could-be director. Within that group of 10 were African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Afghanis, Euro-mutts (meaning a white person with multiple European racial roots) and so forth - about half of us were of mixed race. If I were to include the technical crew and the list would never end.

Considerable deliberation went in to deciding what to call our "Secret Santa" gift exchange, which incorporated the cast, technical crew, and other involved personnel (i.e. director, stage manager, etc.).

Our motley troupe consisted of celebrators of Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and holiday humbugs who didn't celebrate anything.

I'm not sure if we ever settled on a name, but the last term that I heard was "Secret Pals" or something of the sort.

We would intentionally play up various applicable racial and religious stereotypes, throwing out "derogatory" slurs without batting an eye.

The occasional sexist remark would "slip out" here and there as well.

Though we all thought we knew where to draw the line, every once in a while (Who am I kidding; every day!) someone would take something a tad too far and would soon be taught their place, or another person would say one of our favorite awkward-moment lines and cause everyone to start laughing. Moment over, we would move on.

It was all in good fun.

It was one of the ways we were able to relax around each other so that we could focus on the production.

There was something extremely freeing about that environment. It wasn't so much that my friends and I never poke fun at each other's race or ethnicity on our own time for we certainly do. The difference was how concentrated and pronounced it all was.

We weren't forgetting our race or our respective culture(s) nor those of our fellow actors'. We weren't blind to each other's skin color or facial features, nor pretentiously pretending to be above all of that racism nonsense like some people.

By freely and openly acknowledging our differences, we were essentially stating that the diverse nature of our religions, races, cultures, and genders did not affect how we thought about each other.

Rather we were able to share and celebrate our differences, uniting in our uniqueness (whether or not that was our intention).

I cannot stand it when people say that they don't see skin color or don't ever think of another person as belonging to a specific race or culture. (By this I am more referring to first or early impressions regarding race and ethnicity rather than the relationships between long time associates or friends, which is decidedly different).

When someone says that this is generally true of him or her self, it is a self-delusional lie.

How does a person not notice skin color upon first seeing another person? Sight is a biological process of electrical pulses, optic nerves, and the occipital cortex within the brain.

It has nothing to do with social politics. To not see skin color is impossible.

To pretend to not see skin color is an insult. It sends the message that the cultural and racial history of this individual is meaningless and/or unworthy of recognition.

I think that my friends and I have got it right ... or at least are close. Teasing and satirizing our races, cultures, and ethnicities without hostility or devaluation exposes everything to the open air. The laughter is calming.

It reaffirms our identity and tells us that it's OK to just be whoever we are. We have nothing to fear and nothing of which to be ashamed.

On the other hand, how we behave is only appropriate because we are young and amongst our peers. It is honest and playful, but it is not exactly socially acceptable on the professional level.

The point that everyone should understand is that ignoring culture is not the same as accepting it. Once it has been accepted it might truly no longer be noticed, but that is not the same as being actively pushed aside in the name of a false equality.

Kyra-lin Hom writes In Transition (usually) every other week and she can be reached at kl_hom@yahoo.com