It makes people feel bad but not bad enough to rise to the surface and deal with it. Your article hit the nail on the head. It's the comfort level that is key. America, in general, has a lot of ingrained hatred that needs to be dealt with. We need to start treating everyone with respect and stop looking at people based on their skin color, religious backgrounds and so on.
Life is too short to focus on such superficial standards of competence.
I am very tempted to forward your article to our senior management team. If I do, I hope they will read it. But something tells me they will look at the title, feel that racism doesn't exist in this company and flip to the next article of interest. Despite that, you are definitely telling a story that needs to be heard. Again and again.