Is the term African-American offensive to you?

you're a white American guy of a certain age.

I'm not sure if you're not seeing the problems other people continue to experience because of their race/ethnicity or what else is going on here.

things are pretty good here, but race and ethnicity are still a factor for some people. Most of the problems tend to be between particular non-majority groups, but there is definitely still a problem for many visible minority professionals here.

Because when you butcher someone, it doesn't look like a compliment.

I live in a place a lot like you describe, and I think socio-economics of a location is a great indicator of racial relations. In descending order, my school is populated with Asian (so many different flavors), Hispanic (again, many distinct locations of origin), Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Europeans, a few Middle Eastern, black, and white. I have one family that fled the revolution in Egypt. A beautiful rainbow of humanity. I'm in the Bay Area of California. They live together, but hold very serious stereotypical views of one another based on ethnic heritage.

I showed the movie "Freedom Writers" in the first week because seventh grade seems to be a great time to break them away from the racist bullshit they've incorporated from their parents and show them that more than we're different, we're the same.

I'm not trying to be an ass. I guess I was just stricken by your statement that race and ethnicity don't really show up in life...with the implication that if we aren't racist, we never need to mention race (yes, I readily acknowledge that you didn't say that). I'm being a bit earnest and hoping you and everyone will see that some of us must address our differences in appearance, background, culture, color, race, and religion.

No matter your actual sentiment in your welcome, I am truly happy to see you.

Don't question my sentiments, Sofia, we've known one another too long, even if we have never met in person. One difference may be that you are speaking about kids in school. You see anti-Portuguese graffiti around here sometimes, but that's because there's a dual school system, with the province supporting public schools and Catholic schools. You don't see that translated into the work-a-day world of adults. I don't see it that, at any event. Also, although there are a few neighborhoods dominated by one group or another, here groups are largely blended. The Italians who lived next door moved out a few years ago, and now a Chinese couple live there. There's a Kosovar couple just down the street. There's a West Indian lady who lives across the street and down a few doors. A lot of the neighborhoods in this city are like that. Increasingly, they're blended neighborhoods. That was the case where i lived in Ohio, too.