Teachers and other 'educated' people used to say they taught each child as a person - that they did not see colour. They didn't recognise that they were making children who were 'other' even more invisible. Tolerance is not about 'not seeing' or 'not giving a fig' about colour or creed (which by the way is another form of denial of racism) but about recognising, respecting, and NOT DIMINISHING each person for what they are or who they are. In fact recognising diversity and embracing it and FIGHTING the racism that undermines this tolerance (well maybe not the last part...the fighting part is truly an individual choice). You are perhaps saying to Azizi - "look you don't belong to a specific group of people who, provably and observably, have been shockingly treated through racism - you are an individual just like me and I don't go around representing anyone but myself and I (and all my friends) don't go around getting offended at perceived slights, so get over yourself, you should be doing the same thing - being more like me?" Reaction to racism from a person who is within the group that experiences racism is never about individual offense as much as you may want it to be, and black people have no choice when it's in their face - it is about diminishing a race and however it is seen in this world one thing is a fact - black people experience more racism and have over history than any other race on earth simply because of something they had no control over - their race. The American black people are imprisoned more than their white brothers and sisters, suffer unemployment, higher infant mortality rates, lower education rates, and death, because of racism - its affects on the social and economic system in which we live. You could probably point out the Gitane in Spain, or the Turks in Germany, and you'd be right - it's still all about racism not individual sensitivity. So here you go, Azizi - I'm on your back sister girl! Don't ever make the bloody racist thing some black persons individual problem and some black persons (I should have an apostrophe there) oversensitivity. "Perhaps it would be better if you limited your reaction here to what may offend you as an individual as most others generally tend to do. If everyone saw insult to their racial grouping, nation, religion etc and reacted on behalf of them in this way - any discussion here would prove to be impossible" is not the road to reasonableness so much as yet another racial slur on a good woman who is trying to communicate and make sense of stuff that really hurts. It's also patronising which I guess, really, is also part of racism but it can also be part of a lot of other things including straight out rudeness. See, I get so wild and mouthy ....................................................................