Do the smallest things make the biggest difference?

The Washington Post's column "A Crack in the Broken Window Theory" is more interesting in how it highlights why the internalization of racist perceptions, even by members of the marginalized race, can encourage or inhibit the growth of a neighborhood. This race issue is not a small thing at all, but one of the biggest things underpinning our social fabric. The decisions that affect neighborhoods are often made by a power hierarchy that favors the elite - and one not representing the neighborhoods impacted. People who are making these decisions have to be aware of this, acknowledge it, and figure out a way to stop the pattern.

On a personal level, (I guess I just need to get this off my chest) it is difficult enough that there are so few faces like mine in the field. To then deal with spoken words that are ignorantly racist, though well-meaning and unintentional, or to see colleagues stand by the use of such language, is really discouraging. Words, like perception, are small things, but they make an enormous difference.