This is a long thread which I haven't seen before, and don't have the time to read through all the discussions, though I'm sure they are very interesting! So, I apologize if this has been addressed already.
Has the subject of reverse racism ever come up? My retirement community is a mixed bag racially, with many racial, ethnic, and religious groups living together. Partly this is due to this being a very cosmopolitan area, and our demographic reflects the general population.
I haven't seen or heard any overt racism from anyone. Most of the white people are very careful in, for instance, describing how someone looks, and they sort of tiptoe around discussing what race anyone is. If it does come up, most white people will say something like, "She's a very nice African American lady," because some years back, the word "black" became offensive.
But I've noticed at pretty much all the group events (parties, concerts, lectures, etc.) that people seem to stick together with "their own." This seems to be particularly true of all the minority groups. Look at a theatre audience: Asians are always sitting next to Asians, blacks with other blacks, etc. I wonder if this is a kind of reverse racism, or if people just feel safer and more comfortable with their own group, particularly if they are a minority.
Once, my building had a party where I noticed a group of black women sitting together in a corner of the room. I knew some of them, so I went over to chat with them. They were very friendly and cordial, and we had a pleasant chat, but after I left that corner of the room, there was still no mingling. They wanted to sit with each other, period.
Maybe all the years of racism have prompted this, as a defense mechanism? In my experience, my black neighbors are some of the nicest people living here, and I would love to spend more time with them. But short of my joining the African-American club and going to meetings, I don't think it's gonna happen.
