A somewhat subtle sign of endemic racism is our jokes. I used to know a whole lot of jokes that were funny, but making fun of others -- either their beliefs, their choices of food, or their perceived status in the society. I hated to not be able to joke about an Italian eating tripe, or a Mexican's version of English. I thought it was recognizing differences, but in fact, it was diminishing them. I apologize to the world for not realizing that sooner. I was reminded that today when a post said that a woman is "too ugly" to be something or another -- and when people got mad at him, he said it was a joke. The reason such things are not funny is because they are another form of accepting stereotypes. So, those of us who like to make people laugh will just have to throw those kinds of jokes in the trash.