I was really hoping we were past this

Growing up in the 70's and 80's, I was aware of racism, but it seemed to me to be a much more hidden, insidious thing than what I heard about from the past. Apparently, it's much more in the forefront than I had realized, and runs deeper too. When I read articles like these, I am in shock:

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Neo-Nazi Republican Delegates in Michigan

I had actually thought that our British friends were a little more advanced on this subject, but then I read Man shot three times by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

I know, I'm naive. I truly don't know what the best approach is. My 6 year old son doesn't know the term "black" or "white" when describing people. When he asked me why his friends had such dark skin, I showed him my sickly-pale white arm and compared it to his mother's olive-skinned Greek beauty. I compared those to his own tanned skin and explained that everyone was different and that different melanin levels caused different skin color. That's how I always thought about it.

He's going to have to understand the dynamics of race as he gets older, but for now I just don't want him to have to deal with such hatred. I want to delay the end of innocence. The lament of all parents, I imagine.