Yes, I see things from a perspective of race in addition to garden variety material exploitation. I truly recognize that race is a social construct used to support class division in a "divide and conquer" strategy that has worked all too well. But I don’t apologize for talking about race because as a recent article by psychologist Elizabeth Page-Gould points out, racism is bad for the person with racists beliefs as well as the target. I would bet that extends those who hold all other "-isms" too.
In "Warning: Racism Is Bad for Your Health", Page-Gould presents the results of some psychological research about the effects of interracial and intercultural interactions on those with racist beliefs. Unsurprisingly, those with racist beliefs undergo the physiologically measurable stress reaction to a threat. A steady diet of the overabundance of threat response chemicals can lead to physical damage.
As Page-Gould notes:
These types of bodily reactions are helpful in truly dangerous situations, but a number of recent studies have found that racially prejudiced people experience them even during benign social interactions with people of different races. This means that just navigating the supermarket, coffee shop, or modern workplace can be stressful for them. And if the racist person then has to go through this every single day, the repeated stress can become a chronic problem, which places them at heightened risk for disease in later life.
The key to undoing the potential for damage in a multiracial/multi-ethnic/multicultural world is clear. Sequester oneself in a colony of people who are just like you or change one’s perspective of the other so the cross-racial, cross-ethnic, or cross-cultural interactions are seen as challenges, not threats.
Dr.s Janet and Milton Bennett of the Intercultural Communication Institute characterize this as moving from ethnocentrism, defined as judging the world solely through one’s own cultural lens to ethno-relativism, where cultures are not "right or wrong" in terms of judgment but have behaviors with consequences that help or don’t help us to reach mutual goals. Simply put, in ethno-relativism advocacy is about mutual consequences and negotiation rather than "We are right because god said so, that’s the way humans are (defined by the speaker, of course),or our people are responsible for progress that has benefited us all." I'm sure folks here have heard many other reasons in support of ethnocentric beliefs.
Increased, positive interactions with whatever "other" is in question can lead to the reduction of threat responses. A reduction of threat responses impacts the quality of interactions too. From personal experience I can say most people who have a problem with me because of race don’t hide it very well. Perhaps I am too sensitive but I think most of us know when there is "something funky in the air" when we encounter someone who is dealing with a threat response.
Absent that negative energy, I too am more open, relaxed, and forgiving of requests to touch my dreads, being asked if I wash them, being called negro, etc. all of which happens more often than many would think here in Germany.
So though I know many of the people who post and respond here are very accepting of other people, I have read numerous comments about not knowing what to do about family members and loved ones who hold racist beliefs. Now there is some evidence to support that by approaching the topic of their prejudices (in safe, non-judgmental ways, I hope) you are helping them to become more healthy.
Update: Thanks for the rescue. In light of Dr. Laura's recent comments, I must admit that I would be challenged severely to not judge and label her rather than her comments but I know from experience that judging is for the base--it doesn't help one bit when talking to others who express views I feel are racist. Besides, most of us have had an "-ism" issue sometime in our development. I'm thankful for the people who are helping me out of mine because they think I am more than their judgment of my words or deeds.