Racism in America is made up by liberals? Come on... I hate when politics are discussed on Hacker News, but that is just blatantly untrue. I'm a white guy and I've been to the South and the Midwest. I've definitely heard middle-class/normal white people say extremely racist things. It's not a boogeyman. Just look at Trump's campaign--there's a ton of racist dog whistling going on.

Slavery in the US was not a liberal conspiracy. People from the South were ready to die for essentially a racist system. They were not liberals. Jim Crow laws were not passed by liberals. Voting restrictions (e.g. fake literacy tests and jellybean guessing) was not a conspiracy either. Discrimination on AirBnB and Uber exists. Liberals aren't making that up. Bogeymen - now they aren't real. Racism - that shit's real bro.

That just measures the stigma of being openly racist in a country. It is well known that when you measure racial bias in countries like the USA with indirect questions, the reported bias is much higher.

It's not a liberal conspiracy and it's really insulting to pretend like millions of Americans who report being subject to prejudice on a frequent basis are delusional because most Americans are embarrassed by their racial biases.

As someone from the south east, it is no boogeyman. But I do agree that we are much better off than many of the country examples from that article.

In my experience in the SE, most individuals themselves aren't directly racist to any other given individual of color (aside from very specific stereotypes), but they propagate racism through their actions/policies they support/group think with others who feel similarly.

> they propagate racism through their actions/policies they support/group think with others who feel similarly.

I doubt you meant it that way, but this translated in my head to "they're racist because they're conservatives". Would you mind clarifying?

To what degree to you think social desirability bias plays a role in the results of this self-report questionnaire study?

That's certainly a hypothesis alright.

What if I'm not racist, but I don't want people from other cultures as neighbours?

That is an ok thing to desire. Personally, I would find living in a homogenous community preferable. I want a peaceful life, among reasonable people who moderate themselves. I am tired of conflict, and having to tolerate those who impose their beliefs on others and me.

Diversity is a social problem not a cause for celebration IMHO. Is it wrong to want this?

I think that's xenophobia, not racism?

Fear of outsiders != affinity for your in-group

Affinity for your in-group doesn't imply not wanting out-group neighbours. Not wanting out-group neighbours is xenophobia.