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"Actually, San Francisco is especially notable for its deeply entrenched racism."Are you a visible minority? I can tell you straight up right now that racism in San Francisco is a Big Deal, though the SF-is-paradise brigade would never accept that.
Note that the below applies to just about any place with any significantly racially diverse population, it is far from exclusive to SF - though many SF residents seem to pretend they are an island of racial equality.
There are two broad types of racism: the blatant, violent, and openly hateful racism that you see from the likes of the KKK. The other is the subtle, subconscious, but far more pervasive and damaging racism that us minorities have to deal with every day. The more liberal members of our society openly mock the former, while their hearts and minds are filled with the latter.
On a bad day I wish we could trade in some of the latter racism for the former. At least openly hateful racists are easy to identify and easy to dismiss simply because of how ridiculously venomous they are.
Indeed, it is the more insidious, less obvious racism that affects our daily lives. It is the broad racial stereotypes and preconceived notions that prevent us from achieving what we want. It is the subtle segregation that keeps us from being full, first-class participants in our communities. It is the exhausting need to topple every awful stereotype on a long list before someone is capable of perceiving you as a unique person.
It's the woman who suddenly clutches her purse more tightly as you pass by on the bus. It's the man who mistakes you for the kitchen staff even though you're dressed for a nice dinner. It's the coworker who keeps giving you the math-heavy jobs because, hey, you're supposed to be good at that right? It's the stranger on the street who feels the need to dumb down his English to kindergarten levels because he's assumed you can't speak it. It's the girl you're on a date with who seems more enamored with your race's stereotypes than you. It's shocked looks when you assert yourself in a meeting because everyone expected Your People to be mild and soft spoken. It's the fact that, despite being one of the largest racial minorities in the country, and the region, your representation in upper management is a pitiful fraction of where one might expect it to be.
None of it particularly hateful, none of it particularly vile, but also universally present, and in aggregate far more hurtful than a handful of ignorant people waving placards. And the worst part is that nobody but us notice it.
I won't pretend I have it the worst. I'm East Asian. Far, far worse experiences abound in liberal-utopia San Francisco if you're Hispanic, Black, or South Asian.
Just because you live in a place where crosses aren't burning on lawns, where whites and blacks don't have separate water fountains, do not presume you're even remotely close to being free of racism.