Why do some people remain so ignorant to the fact that we are ALL created equal.?

I can understand more of this type of racial divisional sediment from those who have experienced segregation first hand. What I can't understand is how someone who is 35 or younger, who has never lived through civil rights marches, through racial wars and the like, have any basis for their racism or bigotry. I say this because I am of that age, and growing up, we were always taught that everyone is equal, and the only things about slavery, segregation and civil rights movements came through a history book, we never saw these things first hand, never experiencing it for ourselves. Of course, we can empathize, but, it is never the same as first hand knowledge. That is unless they are being taught this at home, which is equally sad to think that is one trait that is being ped from one generation to the next. I guess I'm either extremely naive to think that we are truly created equal, or just a little more enlightened than most.