Cures for Racism
The primary cure for racism is gaining familiarity with one another, which can have a tremendous impact in certain situations, such as on the battlefield, that can last a lifetime, or dissipate immediately after the battle, or when we get back to the familiar, culturally-structured environment we were used to.

It is appalling but true that there are many impediments to progress in race relations, many intentional, like racist legislation and the activities of racist organizations, and also many unintentional that follow from misguided attempts to promote progress.

Even attempting to describe what I consider to be "misguided" attempts is extremely difficult without unintentionally offending a lot of people, but I will try:

The following is "Under Construction".

I'm still struggling with how to deal with my own failures to "rise above my natural xenophobia", i.e., racism.

Some of the attempts at improving race relations actually backfire from the get go.  For example, TV and online ad producers seem to feel the need to show a ficticious alternate reality where virtually every white woman has mixed race kids, which has nothing to do with whatever car or other product they are trying to sell.  This has no impact on people who don't worry about "being invaded" by another race, but makes people exposed to racism since birth only feel that they are under "increased" "threat", and dig-in their heels even further.

I know this kind of critical analysis, as I like to think of it, is anathema to many people, but I believe it is a reflection of reality, and describes an effort that's only effect is to backfire.

I enjoy talking to smart, objective people who disagree with me - I might learn something.

I'm also feeling uncomfortable with how racist some of this sounds, particulary when some parts might be taken out of context and considered as stand-alone statements.  But I will persist.

That said, here's more:

Car and insurance ads and many others impose similar irrelevant themes, such as having the final sale or other happy ending always go to a mixed-race couple, which represent only about 15% of the public.  Do the sponsors really think they are making more sales, and even doing a public service, by imposing irrelevant memes to try to get the public "used to it"? Why? It has nothing to do with selling the product that the ad was supposed to be about, it has no effect on people who are already "used to it", and it only raises the hackles of the rest when it is constantly thrown in their faces.  I know that's what happens, because that's how I, and many of the people I grew up with, react; I'm not proud of it.

Why should anyone care about anyone getting their hackles raised? Well, for one thing, it gets people talking about it within their racist bubbles, foments arguments and ill-feeling between young and old members of the same families, and only gets the old (I'm 74) more entrenched in their pre-existing world view.  No one is "converted".  There is simply no upside.  Except for the Rich - fomenting chaos in the guise of "public service".

Fantasies of alternate realities figure heavily into racism, such as fantasies of superiority.  People are not likely to give up these fantasies when they have no experience with a more satisfying reality, and are offered nothing to motivate them other than the mindless platitudes of religion.

On to the issue of coddling divisive behaviors:

I have always hated noise, whether it is necessary or not.  Some people that I have complained to about noise have countered that I am "too sensitive".  I don't think that is true at all.  As far as I am concerned, everyone's "right" to make noise ends at their property line, and any noise they create that crosses their property line is an imposition, an intentional nuisance, a failure to respect everyone's right to peace and quiet in their own homes, and on their own property, which is not excused by any "cultural" "traditions".

Yes, when new people move in, I wonder how noisy they will be, whether they think that outside noise that their neighbors can hear is "normal", whether they think that INSIDE noise that their neighbors can hear is "normal", how much their household will increase traffic noise and congestion in the neighborhood, and what about alcohol, drugs, gang activity, even outside smoking.

Race and culture should have nothing to do with my preconceived opinions of people; only BEHAVIOR should count, but as a result of experience, race and culture have a great effect on my EXPECTATIONS, whether they are rednecks or gangbangers.

Here I indulge in ranting about my own life experiences which have impacted my inclination toward being "tolerant" or not.  There are no "great insights" here, and I see no reason for you not to just skip the rest of this paragraph.  - Calls to the police about noise often get no response.  Once two very nice, young police ladies went to my extremely noisy neighbor's house three times in one night, and after each visit he quieted down for a few minutes, but he must have been too drunk or stoned to remember their latest visit, and started right up again.  The nice police ladies wouldn't come back after the third time.  Finally, at long last, the city sent him a letter, which quieted him down, but that was after he had kept me up every night for two weeks, making me so exhausted that I didn't even realize how exhausted I was, resulting in my making a major mistake on a contract proposal I was working on, resulting in my non-profit employer losing out on a chance at a multi-million dollar contract that they really needed, resulting in my being fired and losing my 5-bedroom house, in a hot market that saw my former house appreciate by about a half million dollars in the next year, none of which, of course, I ever saw, so now I live on Social Security crammed into a tiny cottage, with all my books but no laundry or even a dishwasher, and unreliable hot water.  Yes, race and culture have a great effect on my EXPECTATIONS.  I haven't found anything that is likely to change that, especially with all the arrogance, belligerence, confrontational chip-on-the-shoulder attitudes, cops on the take looking the other way from crimes, people who want to be treated the same as the "mainstream" but then who go to great lengths to thumb their noses at the "mainstream".  Why are people always saying that they want to "axe" me a question? Why are people always telling me that they have "found the truth", and that I will "go to Hell" if I don't swallow their personal favorite flavor of the Kool-Aid?!!! - Whew! Ranting can be really cathartic!

No matter how many band-aids and lip service politicians, preachers, and other "leaders" come up with, nothing fundamental will change until everyone starts to show more respect for each other, more recognition of everyone's right to safety, to peace and quiet, and to think for themselves.

I'm not holding my breath.

Sorry I'm not more positive about this, but I don't even know where any more positivity would come from.  I think I started off pretty positive, but then reality got in my way.  I feel bad about myself when my level of Empathy is inadequate to suffocate my natural xenophobia; I feel that somehow I should do better, but don't know how.  In fact, having been raised in Oklahoma, I think I'm actually doing pretty well.  I don't feel bad about having disdain for obnoxious people, regardless of race or culture, and I absolutely HATE it when anyone assumes my disdain is race-based.  I don't feel bad about the effect my actual life experiences have on my pre-conceived notions about people I meet who immediately appear to be uneducated or wallowing in a "culture" that seems "primitive" to me, especially "religion" or the redneck culture I grew up in (which, highly fortunately, did not include my immediate family).  I do try to keep my pre-conceived notions from being overwhelming.

I was not "born with a debt" to anyone else.