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It is unfortunate that race so often plays a pivotal role in the resolution of issues that fundamentally have nothing to do with race. This is a social disorder that is particularly acute in Greensboro and Guilford County.

Last Sunday's front-page article about the proposal for a luxury hotel downtown vividly illustrates the point. Among other things, readers learned that Skip Alston, Earl Jones and Sharon Hightower are black; that Dennis Quaintance and Mike Weaver are white; that Deena Hayes is black; that Bill Knight, Nancy Vaughan, Danny Thompson, Paul Gibson and Billy Yow are white; and finally, that Carolyn Coleman and Bruce Davis are black. Got that?

Apparently, some of you must know the race of a speaker, writer or elected official in order to determine whether he should be taken seriously. For the record, then, please be advised that I am white. For most of you, I trust, this fact alone is not decisive.

Ideally, superficial trivia of this sort would be irrelevant to public affairs. But ours is not an ideal world, and there are those among us who stand to gain by racial intimidation and coercion. The downtown hotel saga is front-page news because it involves a large sum of money and the odor of malfeasance. The story also makes headlines because it features the illusion of racism -- a bogeyman manufactured by elected officials whose careers depend on the perception of racial injustice.

The hotel proposed for downtown would be 51 percent minority-owned. (When I need a hotel room, I don't give a fig about the race of the owner; I care only about price and amenities.) County Commissioner Skip Alston, a broker for the deal, will make a significant sum of money, but he won't say how much. When the Board of Commissioners approved the hotel's request for federal funds in December, Alston rightly declined to participate in the vote. He therefore abided by the letter of the law; the spirit of the law is another matter.

Alston did not disclose the nature or extent of his involvement in the project, and he pressured Mayor Bill Knight and Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan to approve the initiative. According to several news reports, Alston tried to intimidate them by suggesting that blacks might initiate a recall election if the council opposed the project. According to Allen Johnson, the (black) editor of this section, Alston "has overstepped his bounds and abused his role as commissioners chairman."

Meanwhile, school board member Deena Hayes threatened to conduct a protest march downtown if the City Council stood in the way of the hotel proposal. The protest would take place at a most inconvenient moment: in the midst of opening ceremonies for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. According to Alston, Hayes "found opposition to the hotel racist." Those who are familiar with Hayes were not at all surprised.

Much to her dismay, hoteliers Dennis Quaintance and Mike Weaver have questioned the feasibility of the downtown hotel project. "The historical and institutional racism that has kept black business people from having such opportunities," Hayes says, "can't be separated from the conversation."

She complains that opposition to the project is "coming from private hotel special interests, not a broad citizen/constituency." She adds, "I'm just speaking my truth."

Those who cry, "Wolf!" (or "Racism!") every five minutes for no reason eventually will be tuned out. Until then, it is important to note that Hayes lives with John Greene, who is a partner in the hotel venture -- a fact that she did not feel obligated to disclose. The relationship was uncovered by reporters. Hayes' living arrangement, and the fact that she resides in the Ole Asheboro neighborhood -- which will be awarded a share of hotel profits -- means that she has a significant financial interest in the project.

I'm just speaking my truth, but it appears that Hayes is a "private hotel special interest."

Ironically, it was Alston who suggested that the hotel venture should be judged strictly "on its merits." And he is absolutely right. Every proposal, regardless of the race of its investors and supporters, should stand or fall on its merits.

But on those terms, the controversial downtown project is likely to fail. A report issued Jan. 18 by HVS Global Hospitality Services concludes that the hotel "would likely struggle to succeed if it's built as proposed by developers." Of course, the authors of the study may be white.

Charles Davenport Jr. (cdavenportjr@hotmail.com) writes a monthly column for the News & Record.