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While I strongly believe that prejudice and racism are both wrong, I guess it's important to realise that those mindsets are very deep-rooted, and set over many years of conditioning by people of tremendous influence.
I have a couple of phobias which I simply cannot escape - and they are based on fears my mother had. Rationally I know they make no sense, and the things I fear are of no substantial threat to me, but they are so deep rooted in my psyche that I doubt I will ever get over them. As a child, I trusted my parents so much that I instinctively took on their worldviews almost without questioning them.
My parents also have views on people from certain religions, and constant exposure to their comments meant that I had a big surprise when I finally met people who happened to be from those backgrounds, and found that they were really lovely people. I had to seriously question many of the prejudices in me, and even now I still have to put conscious effort into it, as my instant mental reaction isn't at all right.
It's very hard to understand the value systems in cultures other than the very specific one we were brought up in. My Chinese and Asian friends have often related stories to me about family and social pressure (not just parents on them, but on other relatives on their parents, but whole villages on those relatives, etc) which leave me shaking my head in disbelief, but to the people in those situations it is the way it is. The ones who really struggle are my friends (who are under the influence of two very different cultures, those of their family and the Western culture of their friends, colleagues etc), and probably their families, who can't persuade their children to cooperate with them in appeasing the relatives who will otherwise ascribe them much dishonour and shame.
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