not from white-land

This is a real quote, from one of my colleagues, who I see everyday, and who generally is a pleasant enough fellow:

''That guy was some kind of immigrant. Yeah, well, he wasn't from White-land.''

Ok, I don't need an atlas to learn there is no such geographical place called White-land, but I do need a new magic wand to eliminate such racist talk from ever reaching my ears. Or, at the very least, I could use a copy of the Cross-cultural Index of Retarded Nastiness Comprehension Workbook to get an unobscurred take on just what goes on inside a bigot's head.

Now, this particular bigot in question hails from renowned red-neck country---but I would not hold that against him if he were not happily conforming to his own stereotype. And, sure, I understand the foul-mouthed speaker was only trying to be offensive for the sake of being offensive (like forcing out a fart in front of his buddies for laughs). I also know his comment derives from a not-so-deep patch of personal insecurity...but so what? I was still offended and I told him so.

White-land might not be a physical place, but it is very much an ideological place for some; and as such, it is a base of reasoning that---one short little step further---is a jump off to intolerance, violence and murder. Racist talk is more than chest-pounding bravado or verbalized ethnocentrism---it is fertile ground for despicable acts.

Days later, on the other side of the Atlantic, Londoners witnessed for themselves the result of their police force's racist policies, when tube travelers watched in horror as an immigrant, Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, was executed by Scotland Yard in a case of mistaken identity. It was later revealed that de Menezes was not an Islamic suicide bomber. He was, however, Latino and, apparently, that was sufficient case to tackle him and put seven bullets in his head.