This a tangential thought but perhaps related:
In the 1970's, maybe you remember the show "Archie Bunkier." Carroll O'Connor was a white, lower-income bigot. His jokes about bigotry seem silly and obviously jokes.
However, when they did polls/research on the issue, they found that:
1) If you were not prejudiced, you saw the show for what it was- making fun of racists like Archie.
2) If you were a prejudiced person, seeing Archie Bunker be a racist reinforced those stereotypes. THose people thought they were watching a reality show and that it was okay to be a racist.
