@Dr_C Same here, actuall!y… tho oddly, few can tell by sight.
However, just because you are fine with that, doesn’t mean others aren’t made to feel very unwelcome or even unsafe in an environment by the same – and it perfectly legitimate & worth of our respect if that’s how others are.
For instance, i’m not in much contact with that side of my heritage we have in common, so disrespect towards it doesn’t hurt me personally (tho in terms of being around someone backwards enough to feel that way, it is unpleasant in a sense). Yet is it worth making my own lack of being insulted by that the basis of determining whether or not it’s acceptable for people to insult aspects of others’ identities that they didn’t choose to have, yet which can play a vital role in their lives?
Sure, allowing ourselves to be offended too much is a problem, but really that’s a private matter for each of us… yet it’s even more of a problem when people respect others so little they allow themselves to be jerks. The more emphasis we place on how bad it is to openly dislike another’s offensiveness, the less people are apt to treat such jerkishness as unacceptable. Too much of this, and often you see people either very unhappy & less socially engaged, or – more likely – less people (esp. minorities) stay in the place… sometimes (not too likely here, of course), this attracts those who enjoy being piggish. Which is sad, cuz it’s not hard at all not to be a jerk.