I guess it's because the US is a nation that (kind of) celebrates immigration -- it is almost unique in that way, I'm under no illusions though, The US is not perfect of course.

Thinking about my ethnicity is something I don't really do very often -- I guess if I moved to an all black or all Asian neibourhood, I might suddenly be a lot more aware of my race ...but I am not intimidated at all by people of different races ....and I deplore rascism ...it is very uncivilized.

...and just to add (getting very personal here), I am often more attracted to people of other racial groups than my own.

I think there are attractive people in any racial group. Some people do like the familiarity and the non-confrontationality of a known quantity though.

Anyhow, I think Australia has tried to be a place that celebrates multiculturalism, too. However, it hasn't always been so successful. As with any country, there's always the ultra-nationalist element. When things happen like boatloads of illegal immigrants arriving or when there are bashings of people for racial reasons (both of and by various groups), then they start to say the old things about multiculturalism tearing the country or culture apart, about non-assimilation, and whatever else.

With some "race riots" that went on not so long ago, now even the governments have had to publicly admit that there are racial tensions more widespread in the community than they had thought.

I would like to think that everyone could get along, whether of different cultures or not, but sometimes it seems like just a dream.

As for ethnicity, well, it is true that if you're not the majority or the norm, that only then would you have much cause to think about it. I like to see advertising for things like schools, taxation ads, for citizenship, etc. and see what types of people they portray as "Australian". That's a gauge of where things are up to in public acceptability.