> it just seems so easy to find counterexamples to racist ideas. hate black people? surely i can introduce you to one who is pretty cool. hate whites? they aren

> it just seems so easy to find counterexamples to racist ideas. hate black people? surely i can introduce you to one who is pretty cool. hate whites? they aren't all bad. The problem here is the presentation of a counterexample in this way is casting it as an exception, and implicitly confirming the validity of the negative stereotype as the default assumption: This is also the underlying problem with certain compliments, eg. "Wow, you're a really good developer (unlike most women)!", "You're so well spoken (unlike most Black people)!", and so on. Given the human ability to rationalize, even a never-ending flood of in-your-face counterexamples is more likely to provoke reactions like "Well, women are just less talented developers on average, of course there are exceptions", and so on.