Sunday Surkhi- Powell and Prejudice

I missed the "powerful statements" of General Powell but 6 million others did listen to him crossing the Party lines to support Obama.
"So what if Obama was a Muslim?" ( A Journalist "brown" made similar comment earlier)
USA has had "Pearl Harbor" experience before, when the Japanese Americans became the target and many Journalists mention these things suggesting that American Tradition is against such "prejudices", as they have learnt over a long period of time the racial prejudice.
Strictly speaking this racial or any other prejudice is universal and occurs in one form or the other everywhere. I think it is quite human and you may term nepotism also a form of prejudice.
Without going into these details of types of prejudices, let me just make some comments in its favor. To a certain extent it is not objectionable and even desirable but it becomes undesirable when the rights of deserving persons are ignored (or even usurped)
Like we remember the signs, "Indians and dogs not allowed"
"Negroes and dogs not allowed"
These are things of the (not so distant) past.
If there is equally qualified white and Non-white and a person in the selecting position prefers white, may not be "objectionable" and in the same situation if the selecting Authority is non-white and he selects non-white (and non-white being in minority) that may be "desirable"
I cant give any better examples but I only wish to make the point. When I came to "States" almost 40 years ago, I felt there is less prejudice here, than England, as Enoch Powell (another but different Powell) had made statements there (around 1966-67) creating a wave of prejudice against Pakistanis and Indians. Not that there was no prejudice before that but it was "milder"
I had similar experience in Pakistan, prejudice against me because I was "Panjabi" (Even though I was born in Saugor in C.P. India) and so I think many of you may have gone through such "prejudices" in your lives that may or may not hurt.
But when "Muslim" is considrered to be equal to "terrorist", the prejudice is life threatening.
So such statements on the media are comforting to some extent specailly when made by such prominent Americans.
I would have liked McCain to make some statements (better than what he did) for "Muslim Americans" when in his audience somebody yelled "Muslim" (for Obama I understand), "Kill him".
I guess both sides have remained very cautious in making any commnets for or against Muslims but General Collin Powell making such statement makes a very powerful argument for America, so hats off to Collin Powell.