Racism, prejudice. bigotry, sexism, homophobia,and all the rest of it, has to to be taught, and it is taught, not by the ignorant and brutish, as we are encouraged to believe, but rather by the powerful, the enfranchised, and others in the small minority who really control our society, not because they believe it, but because it is useful to divide the working classes up and turn them against each other--

The working classes are inclined to work together, to cooperate, and to support one another, and if this was carried to it's logical extension, they would soon completely overwhelm the ruling class--the ruling classes long ago recognized this, and systematically divide and play "the people" against one another to assure their own survival and continued control.