Race complicates interpersonal dealings. By making us pause to think about possible racial reactions, race introduces a factor that would not otherwise be present. Interracial dealings are difficult to avoid so we must all form rules of thumb to help us deal with them. Dealings with white people can, for various reasons, be some of the most complex, confusing and potentially cruel and crippling of all interracial dealings. In relation to this, my question is: Do you prefer to know that a particular white person is a racist* or do you prefer not to know? *There's an obvious irony in my use of "racist" so soon after a post in which I celebrate people's growing desensitization to the accusation, but despite standing by what I said there, I acknowledge that the term "racism" is not without foundation. I will answer this question in the affirmative: I prefer to know. I'm not bothered by whites hating my race, or hating me for belonging to it, or thinking themselves better than me, in the abstract. That is, I'm not bothered that such feelings exist "out there" in society. Nor am I bothered if I learn that a particular white person is a racist. This knowledge will affect how or whether I deal with him, but simply learning that he is not something that would in itself bother me. But I would be annoyed and potentially hurt to learn that a white I had been having dealings with and had had no reason to think or suspect was a racist surprised me by turning out to be one. That is why I prefer to know. Depending on the strength of a racists feelings, I'll decide how close I want to get. If it's only a sense of racial pride in himself and he means no malice, then I'd be quite happy to associate with him even if he used the classic slurs ("dago" "wop" "greaseball") to me to my face or about people like me. If it's more than that, and he actively hates my kind and is very malicious in his put-downs, that's a little different, and I can't think I'd have any reason to want to be around someone who hates me; provided his was non-violent, though, I'd still have business dealings wit him and I wouldn't go out of my to blacken his name or anything. I draw the line at hardcore political racists, like neo-nazis. I will have nothing to do with them (and that even despite being a mild racial "separatist" myself -- separatist in the sense of "demographic management," giving people space to be around their own kind and planning for it in cooperation with other groups etc, just to help us live better, not to hurt anyone). Unfortunately, few whites will share this knowledge with you! You have to coax it out of them. That is why I "talk race" a lot, in an effort to encourage whites to have these conversations. On the other hand, I can think of plenty of reasons to prefer not to know, ie to prefer whites kept their racial feelings to themselves. ps - Yes, some think of people like me as "white" ourselves. You can include me in your definition of white if you like, but I wrote the above with respect to the traditional meaning of white in America, WASP/Germanic.