The real offense of racism, in the end, is to judge individuals by a supposed stereotype of their group—to ignore the fact that when applied to specific individuals, stereotypes are almost always misleading. Statements such as “You are black, you must be musical” or “You are Jewish, you must be smart” are unquestionably very harmful. Everyone is his or her own person with unique strengths and weaknesses, and should be treated as such. Suppose you are the coach of a track-and-field team, and a young person walks on and asks to try out for the hundred-meter race, in which people of West African
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