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I was chatting with a bunch of guys at a party one night. All but one of us knew each other pretty well. One guy, new to the group, began talking about Puerto-Rican women. He said something to the effect that they are inclined to recline, so to speak. The other guys looked away or quickly tried to change the subject.

"Really?" I said. "Well, my wife is Puerto-Rican; do you include her in that stereotype?"

The guy’s face paled with a mixture of fear and embarrassment. He began a pathetic attempt at an apology, but, feeling it was an experience he should remember, I frowned and waved it off as I, and others, meandered away toward another part of the room. Sure, I could have merely let it go, figuring the guy was a jerk. But, then he would not have learned anything about injecting his biases into a social context. I’ve always believed in the importance of challenging bigots in such situations, if only to instill in them that they never know whom they might be offending.