I've been listening to the lyrics of Avenue Q which is a Broadway musical that is a take on Sesame Street for the Gen-Q crowd. It includes a lot of very funny, clever stuff, but also includes the song Everyone's a Little Bit Racist
I think the premise for the song makes for a good starting point for a discussion about accepting the prejudice in all of us on the one hand vs. changing the world by increasing our vigilance against inadvertently racist or hateful remarks on the other.
For a long time I was a proponent of the “don’t be so sensitive” approach, believing that there is a sharp distinction (which there is) between hateful speech and “harmless” jokes. The change is that I no longer believe the "harmles" jokes are.
After discussing this since college, I now believe that the more we practice low-key general background prejudice, the more ingrained it becomes in our conscious and unconscious assumptions (and in the world around us) and, further that the term “Politically Correct” as a pejorative is really just an attempt at intimidating those who might object to jokes or comments or names that are enjoyed most by those who have the least vulnerability.
There is one lyric whose message I particularly disagree with:
Ethinic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!
Ethnic jokes, by and large, are not based on truth; they are based on myths and lies; and these myths are propagated to further a badly broken social structure.
I welcome your comments and discussion.
10:34:27 AM 
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