Simple, but not simple.
Make everyone, who has even one prejudice cell in their body, take an Uber or Lyft ride in New York city. By doing so, with each ride, one slowly chips away their distorted stereotypes of certain nationalities and religions.
You cannot get in a car, entrusting your life with Mohammed, who tells you he apologizes for his lack of energy, but he's 23 days into Ramadan (which you have no clue what or who that is, until you school yourself and do a quick Google search from the backseat) but he will survive it, as he's survived it the previous 28 years of his life. You thank each other, genuinely, and arrive safely at your destination.
You cannot help but laugh with Hanan from Tunisia, when you both spot a man with a bright purple mohawk, wearing an American flag tutu, doing jumping jacks on W.42nd and 6th, both of you amused at human nature. You thank each other, genuinely, and arrive safely at your destination.
You cannot carry on a 35 minute conversation from LaGuardia to Midtown Manhattan with Olubunmi, from West Africa, and talk about the trials and tribulations of having teenagers, although he doesn't see his son, as he had to leave him behind. He sends money home every week, and prays every day his family is safe from a communist regime. He hopes to reunite soon with them. You thank each other for each other, genuinely, and you arrive safely at your destination.
You cannot do those 3 examples above-- and I have many more-- and not eradicate your long held belief of whatever deviant opinion of other races/religions/sexual orientation/creed you distortly hold in your head. You cannot go back to your small, Southern, narrow minded, hometown and not see things differently. You cannot stand to engage with anyone who is intolerant, as it will make you sick to your stomach to hear a derogatory term. You will start to yearn to be around Mohammed, Hanan, and Olubunmi, rather than your narrow minded childhood "friends".
You will start to plan to escape from said depressing, southern small town, and rewrite your life. You are now a more tolerant human being, and you crave other like-minded individuals. They are found in New York city. You hope to move there soon....and that is where I am. Hopefully I will edit this answer, sometime in the near future, perhaps from a backseat of Uber, talking to Mohammed as he takes me to my apartment downtown.
That is my 2 cents from a 39 year old female, born, raised, and outgrown her medium sized college city in the South.
*There will be exceptions, there will be the Uber/Lyft drivers who are jerks, rude, etc. But, in my personal experience, and from having been on over 100 Uber/Lyft rides in NYC, that''s a rarity, and those drivers who have negative characteristics, get poor ratings, and therefore will not be driving much longer with Uber/Lyft. You have to maintain a certain star rating, and that helps weed out the bad apples (in the Big Apple).
Racism and love,
Tears rolled down my eyes, in sadness.
I wanted to feel a flower's fragrance,
the flower burnt itself looking at me.
I wanted to admire the moons and stars,
they pulled the clouds to hide themselves.
I wanted to feel a kids palms,
The kid started crying looking at me.
I headed home to avoid further disappointments,
My mom who had been searching for me, hugged me tight,
kissed me on the forehead and started crying
"My beautiful,adorable child!!! where were you gone?!"
The time I realised beauty is not in looks but in showing love.
Tears rolled down my eyes, in happiness