In Australia things aren't (at least, weren't) as emotionally charged as other places. Aussies couldn't give a flying f@#k about nothin'. There are always extremes of course. The police kill Aboriginal people off like flies in some areas.
I'm not saying it's the same, but I was actually a minority at my high school, believe it or not (despite being white). The Lebanese would ask "Are you a skip?" (Aussie) as their foreplay to deciding whether or not to try beat me up. Rather than deem them racist, I deemed them egoistic in general. Though, that's easier to do for some, I admit. What elicites response from me is unchecked arrogance. Attitudes that have become acceptable, when really they're destructive. I generally save my energy for the covert stuff that can actually have a chance at tricking people into accepting secretly destructive behaviour. So, Pravit (and others) my lack of response to the post wasn't ambivalence, but confidence in it's inability to trick someone into thinking "oh, he's got a point there". I know some don't feel in a postion to be diplomatic. But I do, so I do resist the urge to get upset when I can. So TATY, you don't have to admit you were serious, but can you perhaps realize where they are coming from? You've admitted somewhere that you were gay on this forum. Surely there's times when certain words get to you more than it would get to a straight person.

If I don't think my response will give something new to the table, I stay quiet. That's why I didn't say "that sucked". It wouldn't be new info., so it wouldn't disarm a bad attitude.
I do think DDT has a point. Such words gain strength based on the heat of the responses it recieves. Which isn't to presume one should just let it slide. It's just something to be aware of.
On the football field, if I called a black guy "so and so", I'd have been suspended for the whole season. But, black guys knowinly demeaned us white players because we weren't alowed to respond in kind. If we told the referee, we'd be laughed off. And no-one stops you from calling the big prop forwards 'fat sh@ts'. I do hate arrogance, but no more in relation to race than in relation to a 'nerd' being allowed to be outcast. We're allowed to disrespect people who don't have a civil rights movement behind them. That's what tests my resolve. I don't specify who I stand up for. I only stand up if I think the arrogance has a chance at working.