I think it's important to remember that just a few decades ago, in the US, racial apartheid was the law of the land, and a bit over a century ago, so was ethnicity-based slavery.
Cultural change is the slowest kind, and so today, as I said before, and as reading through this thread will illustrate, there is a very wide range of views on the subject of racism.
We have people of the mainstream demographic in the US today who were brought up basically "racism-free," and we have some who were brought up by people who were working through their own process, with the result that more people, even though they may have some feelings, some beliefs, that are an essential part of who they are, and some don't like those feelings, and are now working through their own process, much as their parents either did or didn't do, and they are going to react to that in different ways.
Some may say that racism existed once but is no more, others may say that racist speech or actions does not indicate racism.
And frequently you can see other people, especially those who are not of the mainstream demographic, get upset by this.
I see it as a positive sign. When you consider that just those few decades ago, you would have more people saying yes, of course he, she, I am a racist, and that's a good thing! Today, I think that more of those mainstream folks are, as part of their own personal journey, beginning to see it as a "bad thing," on one level or another. Some may see it as more of a socially unacceptable trait, and others may be going a little deeper and working on understanding why these "remnants," if you will, are in their hearts, and slowly moving them out.
But I don't think that it is fair to expect that you will have an entire population segment do a complete 180 and wipe their hearts and minds clean of any traces of racism in the space of 40 years or so.
Nor is it realistic to expect that it will be a subject that is viewed in the same way by much of the mainstream demographic as it is by the rest of us. How we feel about things can be pretty heavily influenced by our own experiences, the experiences of our family members, our history.
From time to time I have heard people on TV, usually politicians, say something to the effect that Americans need to have a "dialogue" about racism. And I think that we can hope that one day, that might be something to consider.
But at this point in the history of the society, because there is such a wide divergence in the views, the realities, of the various population segments, and considering how recently the society has de-legalized racial apartheid, not to mention the very dramatic demographic shift that is taking place in several parts of the world, including the US, I believe it is those inner dialogues and processes that will need to complete themselves first.
And in the meantime, we can be glad to see those baby steps, recognize them as such, and recognize that in some cases, they do represent at least some degree of introspection, which is a key first step on that slow road to cultural change!
