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Replying on the fly...
It seems that most people don't have a problem with a "token" minority in their midst (e.g. all of your school examples, which also applied to mine since I grew up in suburb of Seattle). However, I think the tensions start to build once minorities start to threaten the position of the majority.. once they move from "that one ___ guy, he's cool" to "that pack of _____, they're on our turf..."
I didn't think I was racist either, growing up, but how could I be so sure? I had never been in a group where the dominant group wasn't white. I always felt safe as part o the majority. You can imagine how suddenly "racist" I felt when I drove into the wrong part of town one day in college... my prejudices jumped right into my throat before I knew what was happening.
What I mean is, there was one black guy at our school, and he never threatened the status quo. Had I grown up in an inner-city school with a minority that was 20-40% or more of the school population (instead of less than 1%), maybe I would have developed more anti-ethnic feelings... or maybe I would have remained open. Who knows. What do you guys think?
/sorry if this is a threadjack.
__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran
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