Still a long way to go.

I think many racists are well-intentioned. They really don't mean to be racists. And they don't have conscious ill-intent. They've just never seriously questioned whether their actions and conduct are racist. Maybe they espouse libertarian views. They think that for the sake of individual freedom everyone has the right to discriminate. That you are free to choose your own friends. And if you choose not to mix with black people -- well, so be it. They'd allow the owner of a restaurant, for instance, to turn away customers just because they have black skins. I can see their point of view. But I don't buy it. We have to learn to be civil and polite and courteous even to people we don't like. For whatever reason. That's why we give criminals, even the worst of 'em, basic human rights. I say, let's treat each other decently. For many years, we had a social system of separate but equal. We even required blacks to use separate drinking fountains. Of course, that was preposterous. And asinine. And unfair. And wrong as wrong can be. We've mended our ways. But not totally. We still have a long way to go. As evidenced by libertarians who claim that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 went too far. Actually, it didn't go far enough. --Jim Broede