I’ve witnessed children at play in day care, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, not able to walk or talk but able to “mix” without preference toward another.

@Tomas If children are socialized in a diverse environment like that early, then THAT is their "tribe" and they don't fear different skin colors and such. But I'll bet even in that setting a two year old knows when someone takes what's "mine".

Great points!

My brother, brown like me, has always preferred to date blonde women -- he actually married one. Is he racist because of that?

@hlfsousa Preference is not the same as racism in my opinion, it is similar to liking chocolate over vanilla ice cream. Now if anyone were to deny to sell their home to someone else because they were blonde, that is racism.

@cava So if I prefer to buy a house in a neighborhood populated only by people of my own skin color, am I not being racist?

I'm intentionally trying to blur the line, to see where it is drawn. It is not that I agree or disagree, I'm trying to understand your view.

I mention in a previous response, I’ve witnessed almost the opposite. Depending on the size and term of Psyc. study... conclusion is questionable.
I’ve also seen children of 5 and 6 yrs mix, play, enjoy one another without obvious prejudice... my experience was not a formal study, but personal experience over a few years.

@Tomas No doubt, but the infants I referred to were not racist.

They apparently felt more comfortable with the women who resembled them and their mothers skin tone. It is one of the ways that differentiation (which is necessary) begins. As I said I think that racism is learned, it is not the same as the way the infants reacted.

I don't believe in innate fears or beliefs, that is occult in my opinion. Sure there is a spectrum of preferences which include racism at an extreme, but in practice it is not too difficult to discern the difference between them.

I don't believe in determinism because I can not will as easy as I can will.

@cava animals are born knowing how to walk, what predators to fear, how to find water, how ro bind with the mother. We are primed to speech, identify our kind. These are just some examples of innate beliefs or behaviors. That is firmly established by research. The question is to which extent new beliefs can be formed, especially contrary to existing instincts.

@hlfsousa I don't agree. Yes we are primed for speech, and we can recognize our kind, but as you state these seem to be instinctual, therefore they are not beliefs. Rather they are species abilities, capacities, talents inherent to our species.