Is Racism Still Alive?

People don't really like to talk about racism, but is it because we have all moved pass it? Is it because it is still alive and they just don't want to talk about how they feel on the subject? I recently went to a "get together" for a friends birthday. Amanda turned 19 Sept 6Th, and she decided not to have a huge party this year, but to have a handful of her closest friends over for weenie roast, at her house in Galesburg. There ended up being about 15 of us that attended, and we all had an interesting time. There were 3 people from out of town, including me that came to celebrate. There was about 9 girls, all of whom were Caucasian, and 6 guys, all of whom were Caucasian, but two of us, Raymond and I. About 2 hours into the festivity, everything was going great, we had gotten familiar with one another, and there was no tension. All except for a couple of the guest were obviously distant from Raymond and I. During group discussions about any given subject, I would try not to voice my opinion, and to just listen. Raymond voiced his opinion on every subject, and the same group of people who were distant always opposed and verbally attacked, which is what killed the group discussion portion of the party. Here and there racial comments were made in a jokingly matter, but the thing that baffled me was the fact that it was coming from the same group of people. We ended up playing football, boys against girls, and the game was hardly fair because Raymond nor I, ever got the ball. It was almost as if we were there, but we weren't guest. We were more like spectators, because the tension between the shades of skin had spread throughout the party guest. It was supposed to be more like a sleep over type of thing, but Raymond and I both decided to depart earlier, at like 3 in the morning. All the other guest stayed. I find it hard to believe that Amanda didn't notice the tension between us. Maybe she did, but she just didn't know what to do in that type of situation, when your guest aren't getting along. Normally I would have addressed the situation myself, but I tried to keep everything calm and collective as possible for the sake of her birthday. My question to my reader is, do you think that it was racial tension that ruined the night for Raymond and I? Or do you think its just because they weren't familiar with the two of us, since we were 2 of the 3 that weren't from Galesburg?