Your opinion did not offend me, but the phrase "It's easy to not think about racism when racism isn't an issue in your environment" strikes me as a No True Scot

Your opinion did not offend me, but the phrase "It's easy to not think about racism when racism isn't an issue in your environment" strikes me as a No True Scotsman argument. "Think we should ignore race? You must not be around racists". My environment was world-famous for it's racists. The only evidence I have to offer is purely anecdotal, but I've found with people I know who got involved with political activist groups in southern Africa just got more bitter and contentious on the subject the longer they were in those groups. I've had some Hispanic friends join cultural groups and then begin to focus more and more on the differences between themselves and the Americans around them. I've also noticed in some groups I've visited for South African ex-pats that people get together and just complain about all the things they miss about the culture they used to enjoy. I can think of a couple of groups I've seen (most notably, a polynesian dance group) where people genuinely just got together and had a good time celebrating the culture, and that was positive. But I think I've seen more negative results than positive ones. Come to think of it, the polynesian dance group did a lot to invite non-polynesians to join in. It was a celebration of that culture, but it was very focused on including everyone - not just helping one group catch up to another.