How Perpetuating Rasism Is Done.

I just read a Yahoo news article about some racist hate crimes being committed in San Diego, California. Its really horrible that these things are still going on in our country today, but are we really doing the right things to move past them, or are we actually fueling the fire? I once read a theory on how to overcome (seemingly) impossible problems in one's life. Supposedly, the reason that so many people fail to overcome problems (i.e. addictions, bad mind sets, etc.) is that a human being cannot just take something out of their life and call it a day. A hole is left in its place, and if its not filled with something else, the behaviours that the person had been trying to overcome would fill that hole right back up. The writer asserted that to effectively overcome a problem isn't by "fighting" against it, but by focusing the energies that were used to perpetuate the problem on something else (preferably more positive). To give an illustration, say a person is addicted to alcohol. Instead of "fighting" the urge to take a drink, the person should simply throw out all alcohol and buy mass quantities of chocolate milk, and drink some every time he or she craved alcohol. In essence, its a total elimination of the temptation altogether by simply keeping the same habit, but changing subjects. So what does all this have to do with racism? Horrible crimes have been committed in the past regarding race. And by what I've read today, they're still happening. But these are just the outward manifestations of what has already been brewing. All plants have a root system. I once heard a stand up comedian tell this joke, "When you walk down the street, black folks raise their head, look down at you and frown. White folks lower their head, look up at you and smile." Everyone broke out in laughter. This is just one of many "jokes" that I've heard that have been totally accepted by the public at large. However, I believe that these seemingly small deals are what keeps the ball rolling concerning racism. What is a "white" or "black" or "brown" folk? They're people. All of us are the same. As long as we keep the idea that races are what designate us from other kinds of people, racism is still alive and kicking. I strongly believe that to overcome racism, we need to focus on something else, and just forget about "races" altogether. We're people, that's it. And every last one of us is unique.