Many years ago, a good friend and I watched Spike Lee's "On the Bus". After it was over, we got into a discussion about prejudices and racism. When I made the claim that everyone has prejudices, my friend and his wife became extremely defensive to the point that they refused to finish the conversation. They were adamant that they held no prejudices at all.
A lot of what we are describing as defensive behavior is more a matter of our own handling of our feelings towards other races and less about the members of that race itself.
To say, "I'm nervous around black people because there are a lot of black criminals out there. That's not racism, that's common sense," is a ridiculous statement to make. You're nervous because of who you are, not because of who they are.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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