Funny, this goes back to some other questions asked in the last week or so. I think there’s something really interesting going on here. I think in “polite” circles, homophobic attitudes do seem to be more acceptable that racist attitudes. Likewise, there are many more instances of homophobic violence reported these days than directly racist violence (gay boys are killed more often than lynchings happen)—though that’s just a sense, can’t back it up with data at the moment.
However, though racist attitudes are less acceptable, the racist social patterns in the US remain strong. We may have not kept our eye on the ball. It is socially unacceptable to express racist attitudes, but by many measures segregation, even in schools (make no mistake, still separate and unequal), is close to the levels of the Jim Crow era. In contrast, it seems like folks get away with more public display of homophobic attitudes, even though heterosexist patterns of power aren’t nearly as pervasive or large-scale as those around race.
Really interesting contrast.