Facing up to my own racism

[econ21]

Is interaction and dialogue the sole solution, or does one have to dig deeper into one's soul?

I think interaction is a big part of it. The more fanciful forms of racism (e.g. "the guy with a turban may be a suicide bomber..." "the person of that colour may be a mugger" etc) tend to be most prevalent in places without much experience of the "other". Where different ethnic groups rub shoulders, any racism tends to be more mundane and akin to the tensions experienced in any close relationship, such as a marriage (e.g. "why are they so loud/messy/talking our jobs, houses/ not doing the washing up etc"). Working in a university where you mix with folk from around the world, most racist generalisations (and sexist and every other kind of non-PC bigotry) just run contrary to my everyday experience.

However, I suspect we do have racist ideas lurking in our subconscious, ready to jump out in a stressful situation - sort of like baser instincts (rather like flight or fight responses, primal desires or fears etc). Digging deeper - or at least exposing them to the cold light of reason - is helpful here. I mean the chances of anyone sitting next to a suicide bomber in a train are so low, you'd be better off worrying about lightning. (Yes, I know James Woods did sit next to the 9/11 bombers on a plane and even reported them to the FBI, but people do get hit by lightning too.)