About 10% of Americans are self-identified "Racists." Some 70% in the U.S. support Affirmative Action.

That is a good place to start a serious talk. How do you feel when you see someone in "Black-Face?"

Lol...Doesn't bother me, if it's not hurting anyone else.

I'll be 74-years old this week. I have seen "Black Face," evolve from a foot in the door in movies for Black Vaudevillians, to solidarity with black performers by people like Bing Crosby. I worked with a former Procter and Gamble P.R. Rep who "passively integrated" early TV, by suggesting that "street scenes," have some black "extras," in them. TV Variety Shows often featured "Medicine Show," segments with stars in Black Face. It was seen as "safe integration," at a time of pressure on all segments of society to de-segregate.

My Mother was half-Penobscot, but I don't look "native." I have had the advantage of fitting in within the majority population. I have never felt racially hyper-sensitive. So, I share your "if it's not hurting someone else," sense of things. It appears that a significant number of Black people do feel negatively about "Blackface." My Grandma stressed "Be Polite at all times," as an important social norm. I try to be polite and avoid promoting something that needlessly hurts others.

A stereotype that grates on me is the "Fat, Dumb, Racist Southernor." I have spent a lot of time in the Southern US, mostly in Georgia and Florida. I'm not saying that they don't exist, but I never met this stereotype. It does great harm to perpetuate this as a model for cops. I'm not saying there aren't racist cops. We have seen some egregious examples recently. But most of the cops I have met joined the force to make things safe for Grandmas, kids and otherwise vulnerable people. This unpopular stereotype only makes that job harder. I'll put the soap box away, for now.

Racism is always going to exist. How far is one willing to go where it is considered extreme?
That goes both ways too...I'm a white man, and have no shame, no privilege whatsoever. There are extremists on both ends of the race issue, and none are making it any better than was, is or will ever be.

I have also seen racism from all sides over the years. But with most of the power and control in the hands of one race, most of the harm befell the weaker groups. Most of the corrective action has been aimed at macro solutions. I have always wondered why some people thank that another person having the right to vote makes us weaker. I am a capitalist. If you cannot get elected freely putting out your best political product, change your product.

I'll start the conversation. I think the vast majority of Americans of all races are not overtly racist. Most of the people I talk to from all walks of life reject racism and the hatred that accmpanies it. Because none of us is perfect, we are reticent to openly discuss racism. Many of us fear being labeled for honest opinions that are based in real life events. The language of racism changes daily, suggesting that using the wrong word innocently might entrap us. It seems to some to be a "no-win," enterprise.

Stop fomenting it?

I would love to know what, in your special way of thinking, is "fomenting it." Plese cite specific examples, not just red tinted rhetoric.

no.
you are just being obtuse, as usual.
nice try, not falling for your bait

Or you got caught writing a check with your mouth that bounced for NSF (No Sufficient Facts).

Actually I wrote that check with my fingers on a keyboard.
We actually aren't "speaking" with our mouths, but with our minds.
We've been down this rabbit-hole before and I don't wish to do so again.

I blame the misleadia for your "racism" fairy tales...

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What is your impression of the impact of racism on your life?

None... I don't follow the misleadia... The only political party that uses the race card is democrats and there are mounds of evidence that they are racists...

You say "None," but appear to have strong negative opinions. In the early to middle of the last century the Democratic Party was a hotbed of racism. "Southern Democrats," like Strom Thurmond, George Wallace and Lester Maddox were at the forefront of the resistance to de-segregation and legal equality of the races. When the national Democratic Party passed a Civil Rights Plank to the 1948 Platform, Thurmond headed up the Dixiecrat Party in opposition. They left the Democratic Party over the years, as it fully embraced the Civil Rights movement. I would be interested in seeing the "mounds of evidence that they are racists."

crickets