Everywhere is racist. My mother housed a young Argentinian woman for 2 years. Nice person, very smart. Didn't speak a lick of English but studied it, and went to architecture school and is now fluent in English and she's a architect. I remember a time when she com plained to me about the "n****rs" she encountered on her commute to school. She said it in English. I think for some people, racist comments are very casual and not meant to indicate an extreme position. Nonetheless it's pretty abhorrent to hear it. I actually think there are shades of racism, because she wouldn't deny anyone their humanity, and that's what makes a true racist in my opinion.