It is a vast topic obviously... with a lot of nuanced details... but I would like to just quote an article that proves quite blatantly ´into our faces´ how racist this country still is.

Election spurs ´hundreds´ of race threats and crimes

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

There have been "hundreds" of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

One was in Snellville, Ga., where Denene Millner said a boy on the school bus told her 9-year-old daughter the day after the election: "I hope Obama gets assassinated." That night, someone trashed her sister-in-law´s front lawn, mangled the Obama lawn signs, and left two pizza boxes filled with human feces outside the front door, Millner said.

She described her emotions as a combination of anger and fear.

"I can´t say that every white person in Snellville is evil and anti-Obama and willing to desecrate my property because one or two idiots did it," said Millner, who is black. "But it definitely makes you look a little different at the people who you live with, and makes you wonder what they´re capable of and what they´re really thinking."

(...)

What are your thouths on racism..?

Racism (and other forms of discrimination) is horrible because in my view one must not judge people by race, sexe, age, ethniticity or ... but by their own deeds. But, I think that every one, really every one has sometimes a racistic thought. That is not the real problem, as far as one recognises it as bad. It becomes awful when someone with thoughts like that is acting towards his/her thoughts. 

Any other comments?

Yes!  I just don´t have time today

Ok... I do wonder about your thoughts on this topic...

 Well, briefly (!) I think we are all guilty of racism. The word racism encompases far more than "black v white".  It can include anything from mocking people who live different areas within one country right through to different skin colours and nationalities.

It is something that is "taught".  You are not born a racist.  Invariably it is handed down to you by your parents.

Essentially, I think it is about judging someone for ANY reason other then for their own merit. 

I think all the things you mentioned have the same bottom line roots as the racism that we know best. It is a form of tribalism, where everybody who visibly is different then the rest is treated/perceived as the "other", not one of us, therefore the group is not protecting her/him. I recommend the book "Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of human violence" by Dale Peterson. I think they described the roots of tribalism in this book exquisitly.

However, my question about racism was more about the current shape of it in your communities... do you see it? do you think it exists? does it bother you? why do you think it´s there? It would be interesting to compare the views of westerners and Turkish, Egyptian, Lebanese... and all other nationalities that we have, about racism in their countries.

 We dont have this kind of racism here

But we have things like what AE has mentioned,mocking  people who live at different areas within the country ,sometimes by jokes made just for them,also we exchange them with them,they laugh about them,but still i think or feel that part inside them would be somehow annoyed

But somehow it doesnt make problem in here,because at same time we mock them because of who they are and where they are from,make jokes

We put them at high level/rank/situation too

We believe that the best men to deal with,who are honorable,respectable...etc are from those areas and we lable them by that too.

Ýf i understood that word right ´köyler´ and its usage in Türkiye,so it is same with that...at the time we call them köyler,still köyler is symbol of honorable ,generouse,respectable,kind,...etc people

Ýts a bit complicated to explain,but anyhow racism as you meant ´between black and whites´, we dont have here.

It is very very depressing indeed. Racisism in the US has a long history. The White/Black racisism in particular is "special". What happened to the Black people here is a unique event in human history, and still in living memory, although those who have first hand experience knowing exslaves are very old now, they are still alive. It´s interesting to note that. Michele Obama´s ancestors were slaves.

Race relations have improved a great deal in the last 40 years, but there is still a lot that needs to be done. It does go both ways, but I feel the Blacks have more "cause" to be upset than the "whites".

In the case of the "Whites", it´s like the flailing about of the doomed drowning man. They will take you down with them as they fight assistance, in their ignorance of attempts to assist them. They are afraid their race is dying out, or being overtaken. They are loosing power, so to speak.They were once the masters, the blacks had to defer to them, do their bidding. They were not able to operate independantly.

I discussed this with my friends and one, who is very philisophical, said humans are "pack animals" at the base. They gather in groups they feel commradery with. It´s unfortunate, most don´t see the universiality in all life. We are all one.The well being on one is the well being of all. It´s like a virus, one gets sick and others catch it.

This aspect of American culture is something I´ve fought for years, and it shames me deeply. It´s something I´ve seen foreigners learn when they come here. It´s really very sad. People who never thought about white, brown or black, learn.....It´s a tragic lesson.

I think the election of Obama shows that most Americans have moved on past this silly racisism, infortunately, we are also seeing that many have not.

I work, hope and pray for the best, and the patience and knowledge to deal with the worst.

Thank you Alameda for a great post!