"That implies that contact with other cultures yield a hatred or distrust of them. You cannot prove this, and it, therefore, cannot be asserted."

No, I said that specific types of contact with other cultures yields xenophobia in some people. And that you cannot truly know how you will react until you have had such "contact".

I have personally experienced this several times with "unbiased", do-gooder european or american 20-somethings that visit my home country to help "change the world" and leave a year later as what I would consider racists. Not that I don't understand how it happens, nor do I intend to judge them.

"The time period it would take for this to become a universal trait is MUCH longer than the time in which warring human tribes have existed"

Are you being serious? Obviously this trait has not evolved only since homo sapiens. There are obvious reasons that groups should be scared of one another, whether they are cats, monkeys, wolves, apes or elephants!

All creatures have "warred" since first existence!

"That is not justification. We have a natural tendency to cheat as well. Does that make it justified? No."

I did not say that it was justified, only that it should be accepted and understood. Though I think that there may be certain situations (previously outlined) in which it is justified.

By the way, cheating is a very poor metaphor for racism and xenophobia!

'm going to vote against it just to piss you off

"Oh that's mature..."

Yes it was, it was carefully considered. Did you miss:

(and hopefully help you understand a slightly different perspective)?

I give you a further (100% true) example.

I have personally, in the last 12 years, had a friend murdered by a member of a particular race; had a family member raped by a member of the same race; been personally held up and tied up at gun-point along with my mother and sister and a visitor (who had been showering and was made to remain naked), watched as my mother and dog were beaten, by three members of this same race, in our own house; been held up at knife point where the mugger specifically threatened to stab not me but my fiance; been dispossessed of some of my most financially and sentimentally valuable property in other incidents, by members of the same race. There is more.

I do NOT consider myself a racist. I do not judge individuals of "this race" when I meet them personally. I have two good friends of this race-group.

BUT, when I am walking down a road at night, or am at a secluded traffic light, and I see a member of this race approaching me, I worry and become more alert than if it were a member of my own race.

Am I a racist?

Your argument is so simplistic and ridiculous. "It's actually not. RACISM IS NEVER JUSTIFIED."

You are wrong, there are and have always been times and situations where racism and xenophobia were / are justified. Should a Jew not have run from a German during WW2 because he pretended not to be able to tell the difference in looks between a German and a Jew, or because not all Germans were Nazis?

Throughout human evolution and history it has paid us to be xenophobic for obvious reasons. Racism is a direct offshoot of this xenophobia. Therefore it is natural and normal to have such thoughts when you live in a culturally (or otherwise, eg. education) divided society (and particularly when those cultural divides are easily physically identifiable through generalization).

Of course it is easy for those living in largely equal societies and/or similar cultures to overcome this xenophobia.

It is more difficult for those who live in more diverse, unequal and dissimilar societies / cultures.

Of course it should be everyone's aim to judge individuals as individuals, not by color or culture. But we also need to accept that it is not always easy to do.

Your super-powers of mental deduction have now been registered by the US government.

I would however agree that there have been and are many crimes founded largely in racism.

Anyway, I think that if we accept the reality of inherent human racism / xenophobia the real question is, "how can we create more tolerant societies and better understanding between groups"...

Yes, I would certainly agree with that. I hope that you have not been made to feel that way!

But I think that in order to truly hold that perspective, you need to understand why some otherwise largely decent people do not, and may be "confused" and hold some views that others would consider racist / xenophobic. And then you might actually be able to help turn them around and make the world a tiny bit better!

Also, I think that many deaths and events attributed to racism in fact have other motives.

Well, I would agree that I know little about you and I am making some serious assumptions. As I say, it is my experience that people who make simplistic statements on topics such as race have these attributes!

If you were truly beaten up based purely on race, then that is terrible and I hope you have gone to the authorities. A family friend of mine was murdered a few years ago while others nearby heard the shooter call him by his race.

But, that does not fundamentally change my argument. I do think you need to consider if these events were truly based primarily on race. And even if they were, then once you have recovered, you might take the time to consider the topic a little more deeply.

Of course bullies and criminals in all societies themselves tend to have very simplistic views on such things as race and may often be racist. But it is probable that if these type of people hadn't beaten you up based on your race then they would've found another reason...