The point is that unless we speak out against racism, it will flourish. This is how my parents brought me up, and I still find it a good rule to live by. It is that simple. Let us drop all the personal stuff and get to the nitty gritty. As I see it, if you do not speak out against racism, you are tacitly agreeing with it. It is irrelevant what the age or sex or creed or colour of person being racist is. If you can't be straight with your own friends and relations, what hope is there?

Edit: and by the way, you said that my grandad was the exception, and made out that this made it pointless saying anything. My point was that even if there is only a small chance of changing someone's mind, it is still worth explaining what you think. So the stats are irrelevant.

As for the poem, it may have become a cliche, but those are still powerful words, and they do express quite clearly that saying/doing nothing is not an option when it comes to racism (or, I suppose more accurately in the case of the poem, facism).