[mrnoble]

I sure hope this doesn't devolve into a regional argument, or a bunch of us saying "I haven't experienced racism". A thousand people here can speak for this: I've been south, north, east, and west, within the United States, and I have seen racism manifested in the rural and urban areas of each region, sometimes in different ways, sometimes more or less subtly, but it's there. Racism exists in our culture. Okay. But we're not going to solve the problems of American society here; we are talking specifically about the culture of FIRST, and how it is experienced by persons of color, per the OP. I realize I'm setting myself up as an arbiter here, and I promise I'm stepping right down, but I'm pleading that we not go where it seems we are going. Please.