Is it wrong to be racist?

[Cavernio]

Patashu wrote "If every black person in the US suddenly lost all the traits that everyone used to differentiate races but we somehow tracked them over the generations, they'd rise up from being an underclass"

I strongly disagree, for reasons others have mentioned. It is not race which has made black people poor, nor is it racism. It is a stratified social structure. Blacks were not made slaves in North America because they were black, it was because their people were in no position to stop themselves from being caught by fleets of white men. In the same way, it is not only the fact that they are black which keeps poor black people poor. All we'd have to do prove that what you say won't happen would be to follow a large number of poor white families for a few generations to see if they are likely to become unpoor, something which we CAN do now, and which probably has been done.
Our society does not do well with making people 'equal'.

On another note, I agree with Fido. It is not being naive, it is the recognition that labelling an individual based on statistics or first glance suppositions, is just not right. Obviously it is alright to talk about people in groups and to generalize...we sort of have to. It is, however, not alright to think of any given individual in those terms.
For instance, it is not ok to, after seeing a black teenager wearing baggy clothes, think 'oh, he might be part of a gang, I should stay away from him, and I'm totally justified in thinking that because I'm just looking out for my safety and following statistics which say black teenage guys in baggy clothes are much more likely to be a gang member.' A much better thought process, imo, would be 'oh, he's wearing baggy clothes and he's black, he might be part of a gang, but that would be pretty slanderous and offensive of me to think that right away...I don't want people summing ME up in a glance.' Unless you want people to sum you up in a glance I suppose...in which case, if you'd like to be thought of as your stereotype, I guess my point is irrelevant.

edit: I guess I shouldn't think negatively of all gangs though should I...