take you into a room where there are 100 barefooted people, heads shaven, numbered 1 through 100. I give you a tape measure and ask you to identify by number all those in the room who are 6' tall, or taller, to the nearest 1/4". You do so. You then give me a list with the relevant numbers on it.

I now bring a friend of yours into the room and ask him or her to do the same thing. He or she does.

And finally, I bring another friend of yours into the room and ask him or her to do the same thing. And he or she does.

We compare the three lists. They are identical.

I now ask you to identify, by number again, all the racists in the room, giving you carte blanche to ask each of the 100 people all the questions you want. You do. And again you give me a list.

I then ask each of your friends to do the same thing. He or she does. And again each gives me a list.

We now compare the three lists. They are completely different.

Why? And that one question is the entire quiz.

But I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a hint before you start writing in your blue book: Racism is an intangible characteristic, just as beauty is. Which means that it lies only in the eyes of the beholder.

Oh, by the way, so do greed, courage, intelligence, meanness, generosity, success, political punditry, morality, ethics, and a host of others.

The list is almost endless.

Think about it.