Thelonious Monk was an innovative musician to say the least.  He also made this observation about racism and hatred:

"When I was a kid, some of the guys would try to get me to hate white people for what they've been doing to Negroes, and for a while I tried real hard. But every time I got to hating them, some white guy would come along and mess the whole thing up." (Source)

Individuals are more than the groups we assign each other to.