I'm like you Bill D.   I don't look for opportunities to feel personally insulted. As far as I can figure out so far, I haven't been harmed by that attitude. Perhaps some insults have sailed over my head (or under my radar) - suits me fine, because it works for me.

I also don't look for opportunities to be personally insulting. I ascribe to the Rogerian notion of "unconditional positive regard" for other people. This is a value I have chosen because in my experience it is much more likely to be effective. I'd much rather be effective in changing the attitudes and irrational beliefs of a racist, than in asserting my moral superiority over that "evil low-life." I try to challenge illogical beliefs, but respect the personhood of the individual who holds that belief.

People are complicated. I try to respect that. If a person experiences my interchanges with them as being respectful of them as an individual, they are more likely to seriously consider my own differing view as having at least as much validity as theirs. Who knows, they may even, over time, change their belief? (And since I do not have a corner on the market on truth or reality, sometimes I change or modify mine.) My experience and observation regarding overt racism (and with most hardcore "isms") is that they are based on fear and a misapprehension (sp?) and miss-identification of the actual source of the threat. Often I understand the threat to be a bogeyman (like I said, I'm hard to insult,) but can accept the fear the other experiences is real. That is, to be clear, they truly, really, are experiencing intensely fearful emotions to a perceived threat. Fear is more difficult to tolerate than anger for most people, so people have a tendency to consciously experience the anger emotion, and the fear is more unconscious.

For myself, I prefer to respond to a person with racist beliefs in a manner that could possibly result in a change in their perspective. I will rationally challenge their beliefs, but will do my best to respect the person. Sometimes it works.