This was an awesome article. Sad that it had, and will continue to be, need to be written, but it's past time to call a spade a spade. I was raised in an area that lacked diversity simply due to geographic demographics, not intentionally, but after getting my BA, I moved from the east to Phoenix, where I received culture shock in the form of billboards in Spanish -- something I had never seen before. More followed. It was educational for me, and something I came to appreciate. Several years later, I moved to LA to go to grad school and discovered that at the time there was something like over 110 different cultures/ethnicities/active heritages, etc., in LA County alone, which was an even bigger culture shock, but again, something I came to appreciate. I attended a very large state university and found myself -- for the first time ever -- as NOT being part of a/the majority student body demographics, as a white person, and while this didn't bother me, it gave me pause to consider and that was good. If I recall correctly, there was no "dominant" "ethnic" group. It was a mixture of Asians, Latinos, Caucasions, African Americans and other black people (not American), as well as East Indians, Native Americans and many more. I later went on to teach at a couple of schools in SoCal and at one large state university, found myself thrown into teaching a bunch of ESL classes -- with no training at all. I didn't major in that, nor had I ever taken a class in it. I found my students represented at least 37 different, unique languages, cultures, etc., and as a person who loves research, I researched the hell out of various cultures and typical learning methods and styles of other nations, cultures, peoples, etc., and I found I was able to come to a place where I could effectively communicate with, in different ways, students from much of the Middle East, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, Indo-Pacific peoples, South and Southeast Asian peoples, and more. I discovered that in certain cultures, writing about oneself and one's own experiences (which was valued in the US at the time) was actually discouraged and frowned upon. Yet, as I got to know as many of my students as possible, I discovered virtually all had amazing stories to tell, should they decide to do so. I encountered people who had escaped Laos and Cambodia during very difficult times, had been told not to talk about it, but when encouraged to do so if desired (by me), they opened up and wrote a lot and I think educated many of us in these classes who hadn't previously been exposed to such things before. I also recall tutoring a student who tried to teach me the difference(s) between "Latino" and "Chicano" (as well as "Hispanic"), which I found enlightening, although I'm unaware if that represented a universal understanding. I know I'm rambling here, but the point is I think far too many white people, like myself, come from historically white-dominant communites and aren't exposed to other peoples and cultures -- in person -- and are spoon fed the crap various media sources give us, and my contention has always been that while there will always be people one could define as white nationalists, if more people such as myself could be exposed to and benefit from such other exepriences, peoples and cultures, it might make at least some people more understanding and supportive, create a uniting desire rather than a devisive reaction to spoon fed stereotypes. Unfortunately, that isn't logistically possible. I feel like I learned a great deal from living in the city with the most Cambodians outside of Cambodia, in another city with the most Armenians outside of Armenia, working at a company where the majority of employees were Korean (I lived in Koreatown at the time) and where the "white collar" types (white) wouldn't mix with such, and as many Koreans -- especially the women, and most of these were women -- rarely learned English and as I wanted to communicate with them, I learned what Korean I could, started hanging out with them and became friends with several, as well as co-workers from Mexico, the Phillipines, Finland, Columbia, Guatamala, Germany, Iran, etc. I value what I was exposed to there and what my experiences were like and I regret moving back to areas lacking this, though circumstances dictated doing so. I realize I've left probably the longest comment ever, but I just wanted to let you know I appreciate this article very much, think it brings up many legitimate and (what should be) common sense thoughts and outlooks and I've already forwarded and shared this article with a number of people and I hope this helps anyone who may benefit from it in whichever ideally positive way possible because I think these current times call for the need for people to do so. I have felt really disillusioned, progressively, over the past 15+ years to discover the historic raciscm I grew up reading about, observing at times, and seeing examples of what I had thought had receded to a large degree over the passing of time and growth in diversity has turned out to be an ugly lie and the truth is Jim Crowe never left, but simply went into hiding in "normal" society, only to come out in plain site with a vengence at the first sign of minorities gaining influence and power (such as when Obama was elected, the "conservative" reaction to which both stunned and sickened me) and my wife and I now live in what we fear is an increasing fascist society and the future looks ugly, judging by the rhetoric and actions of certain national, regional and local "leaders" and their followers and where things seem to be leading. I never thought I would ever see something like this in my lifetime. It saddens me tremendously to see what has and is happening throughout this country and much of the West and my wife and I desperately hope some form of sanity arises from the social rot to save whatever is possibly left to save, not of a historical era of ethnic dominance, but of (mythological) ideals so many viewed of this nation while coming here as immigrants, like my grandparents did -- the whole Give us your tired, weak, poor, etc. -- although my fear is that may never happen, the country is too splintered and divided and permanently so. It's tragic because it's taken years for me to discover that virtually everything I was taught as a child -- history, American history, religion, politics, economics, and on and on -- has turned out to be a pile of bullshit and it's hard feeling disullusioned about people no longer alive to defend their actions or words (parents, relatives, teachers, etc.). I was taught the world had been an ugly place, but that things have been and are changing for the better and sadly nothing could be further from the truth. I apologize for taking so much space here and possibly saying things no one cares about or perhaps even annoying some people, which has not been my intention. I just wanted to share how my experiences helped reshape my understanding and appreciation of the world and the people who inhabit it as well as the resulting desire to see true, actual, literal and positive change take place that would impact this country and all living in it for so much the better. Now I'm cynical enough to feel that will never happen, and it truly saddens me. Thanks again for your article and I just followed you and will look forward to reading more of your work. I apologize to any I've offended unintentionally. I've been told I have a bad habit of going on way too long and I guess this is certainly proof of that. Have a good day. -- Scott