<p>It seems to me that there are different kinds of “racism,” and perhaps we don’t have good shared terms for all of them. I think what mini is talking about is, perhaps, “institutional racism”–in other words, a system that provides advantages to one racial group over others, whatever attitudes actually are. I agree that we still have this, although it’s certainly less pronounced than it used to be. I also think there is personal racism, in which one actually believes that his race is superior to other races, and deserves to rule over others. I think we still have this, too, but again, much less than before–and it seems alien to most young people. What I do think we still have a lot of is the idea that racial groups have distinct, separate interests, and that they have to work together to protect their interests from inroads by other racial groups. I see this from people of all races. The persistence of things like separate proms may be a symptom of that third form–as are things like votes on whether the prom should have “black” or “white” music.</p>
<p>From what they have told me, minority parents are reluctant to bring their families to communities where they would be a very small minority. Of course white parents feel the same way.</p>
<p>Here is a website that uses the census figure to calculate a dissimilarlity index by state, city and metropolitan area.</p>
<p>[CensusScope</a> – Segregation: Dissimilarity Indices](<a href=“http://www.censusscope.org/us/s17/rank_dissimilarity_white_black.html]CensusScope”>CensusScope -- Segregation: Dissimilarity Indices)</p>
<p>At least in my state (Texas), multiracial and white dissimilarlity in most cities is very significantly lower than white-black</p>
<p>“Exactly what can you do individually if you find such things unacceptable…”</p>
<p>You can find ways to make common cause with those who suffer from racism in virtually every aspect of their daily lives.</p>
<p>Or you can find ways to use your talents and abilities to help anyone in need, regardless of their race.</p>
<p>I don’t teach literacy to a population of mostly Hispanic people because they suffer from racism, I teach literacy to anyone who would like to learn because being able to read and write lifts everyone up. And there are more white people who are functionally illiterate than many people think.</p>