The town I live in is roughly 9% African-American, 20% Hispanic, with the rest almost entirely composed of Caucs. I have close friends in each of these ethnic groups, and am married to a Latina, so consider myself to be something of an authority on this subject. Also, I work at the local hospital, so am in pretty much constant contact with the people in this town.
So, imagine this, I'm walking down the street in the town I live and up ahead I see a group of young men walking towards me. As they get closer I realize that they are Hispanic, so what do I do? Nothing, I keep on walking.
I keep walking and up ahead I see another group walking towards me. This group is composed of young black men. What do I do? Nothing, I keep on walking.
I continue my little stroll down the street and up ahead I see a third group coming my way. These are a group of young white guys from the town I live in. What do I do? I probably get a little nervous because I've had some bad experiences with this same group in this place I live. Is it because they are simply worse people than the 2 minority groups that I've already seen? I don't think so. Is it because I've had run-ins with young white men in this town? Maybe. Have I had run-ins with whites more often in this town, simply because the odds are that I would due to the fact that there are more whites than blacks or Hispanics in this town. Possibly.
Am I, a white man, racist in any way? I certainly hope not. I try very hard to give everybody the benefit of the doubt regardless of what they look like, the language they speak, or who they like to sleep with.
I beleive I can go to sleep tonight with a good conscience