a lack of understanding of what? what is exactly so inscrutable about these people that we find them so difficult to understand? i 'understand' aboriginal culture perfectly; i just don't particularly like it and if given a chance, would avoid it when and where possible for a culture that i would prefer. if left to themselves people, will invariably seek out things that feel will most satisfy them. people who enjoy weight lifting may not enjoy spending time at the local chess club, and those that prefer the general temperament (compared group to group) and yes, APPEARENCES of whites to non-whites, will seek out the company of whites. there are probably many things you understand, but just by 'understanding' something does not imply that you will prefer it or wish to spend your life interacting with it. people sit together with people who are similiar to them not because everybody and everything else is such a total incomprehensible void to them, but because, well.. they like to be around people to whom they can relate to.
belief in negative stereotypes.
as if stereotypes and generalizations are solely the result of negative attitudes that emerge from 'not knowing enough' about people. if individuals in schools seem to notice that aboriginals are almost invariably in the bottom classes, sooner or later a generalization (which isnt even foisted upon them by the 'racist society'; generalizations and stereotypes naturally emerge from the human being's proclivity for pattern recognition) about aboriginals being bad in educational contexts or just plain unintelligent will quickly become common. this is not to say that all stereotypes are valid, but human behavior within groups tends to cluster around certain means, and stereotypes regarding these groups will emerge as a result of this. generalizations are an extremely useful tool to make sense of the world and people apply them towards EVERYTHING THEY DO; only regarding *human groups* has it become taboo to generalize regardless of the validity of these generalizations.