Religious intolerance and recial intolerance are two different things. The latter can cause people of the same background to kill each other.

If you want racism to stop, then a pattern of assimilation has to be set and adhered to. Because we tend to recognize people's American citizenship on par with their ethnic heritage, we have more or less made this pattern impossible because we're rcognizing difference in the culture. We're not going to eliminate racism without eliminating difference (which means we'd find other ways to differentiate and hate each other, I suppose). The best you can hope for in a mult-ethnic society like ours is tolerance, for anything and everything. I know people who are closet racists, verbally, at least. As long as they don't do anything to harm or impede someone, though, then so what? That might be as close to acceptance as we'll get for awhile, from some people, at least.

Just as a side note, racial intolerance can cause people of the same background to kill each other as well.

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That point is more contentious than you might think. Some ethnic minorities want to assimilate and "be like everybody else," but others want to hold on to their heritage and native culture while being free to operate in a foreign culture. To some extent, they should be allowed to do whichever.

I don't see any way of eliminating difference without massive genocide, which is obviously undesirable. The key is to teach people that difference isn't a bad thing, but rather an interesting and enriching thing.

Agreed.

Racism is basic fear of the unknown and fear of something different. It is combatted by removing the barriers which separate us from each other. Racial barriers have been erected by both parties of each conflict and they need to be taken down. Proximity then reveals we are more alike than different. Common ground is what finally eliminates racism. That common ground can be found in the workplace or the neighborhood or the church or anywhere people come together.