racism and stupidity

i am in a predicament. i live and work (especially work) in an area with a harrowing level of racism and stupidity (the two seem to be inseparable). racism is tricky. the hardcore ones are easy to spot. at the very least their stupidity is easy to spot, which in itself is enough of a basis to reject them as having no worth. it is difficult to grow up in this country and come out of it with no racism. we are not so far removed from institutionalized racism. those people are dying out, but they brought up children with as much hate and ignorance as they could effect. the stupidity of racism offends me as much as the injuries it causes. people who are not subject to it have no idea what injuries are inflicted. they go beyond the obvious economic injuries. if you have not been subject to it, you should try to imagine walking through your day, having a substantial number of people who come into your sphere hating you without even knowing you. people you pass by giving you hateful looks, the girl who fixes your coffee treating you with disdain, people so repulsed by you that if the seat next to you on the bus was the last empty one, they would choose to stand (in lesser cases choosing that seat only after all the other seats were taken). understand that the cumulative effect of these interactions would try to force into you a sense of worthlessness. in social situations and in school and at work, having the people you could engage with in a friendly manner greatly reduced, and never knowing who those people were. it is invisible, and can be explained away with excuses. "he doesn't have the experience" was often code for "i'll never vote for a black person". because people won't admit to it, even the ones who are grossly racist, you don't see it. but it acts on the people it is directed towards. every generation there are more people who are intelligent enough to reject this ignorance, but many take in what they are taught. they are often only taught a sense of discomfort and difference, and that is enough for them make prejudiced decisions. it is lessening, but still distinctly there. and i cannot tolerate that.