First, let's lay out more groundwork for this. Are you talking about racists who tell stupid jokes or Klansmen? Because I'm talking about the latter (and I realize that they probably aren't a big feature in Seattle, but in Mississippi, they show up at least once a year to march somewhere). I simply find it disgusting to appeal to them.
And to my knowledge, the "they're not mean, just ignorant" is a myth. Some people simply hate black people, or Muslims, or LGBT people, etc... and they state that if asked in the company of white hetero folks. My own father-in-law is a Trump supporter who says his favorite song is "White Christmas" *wink wink*. These people exist; they're not dumb, and the real world isn't a Disney channel original movie where people are swayed once they see the real truth (or whatever).
I really don't know how you can look at something like that other thread in OT right now (with the TN guy putting up billboards that say "I Have a Dream" with Confederate flags or "Make America White Again") and say, "That guy's probably just not as knowledgeable about people of color. Shame on you for not appealing to him!"
See above for changing people. People that tell racist jokes? Maybe you could get through. But I think there's a sizable portion of our nation that simply doesn't like people of color or any other minorities, and you won't change them with a hug or a TV show.
Blargh, GAF ate my long response, so I'll do a short version
A) People who make racist jokes as opposed to KKK members. In the nuance of the internet, they're lumped in as the same. Which is a major part of the problem. In that sense, I think we are talking about different groups, which makes the earlier conversation make waaaaay more sense.
B) Seattle doesn't have these issues (really sucks to be a black person or a poor person in Seattle though, but that's a different story) - but the vast majority of my life (been in Seattle 9 years, midwest 20+) has been in rural IL, and the paki-beating newsletters taped to our driveway never quite leave you.
C) I think that the echo chamber and banality of the internet generally fools people into believing that what they find (and by find, often times have self-selected themselves into socially) on the internet is representative of the world at large. See: Bernie Sanders supporters. So when we see stuff like the TN thread on GAF, it comes across as a meaningful representation of the world, rather than a random independent (not even GOP, but actual independent) jackass who bought two billboards in TN and caused the outrage of the day. There's zero news in that thread. But because it validates our pre-existing narrative, we give it importance.
I think basically, that maybe 5-10% of the country is irredeemably racist and hateful. I think people act like it is 30-40%. Which, when you think about the people you know and how many there are...anything besides low single digits is probably a massive exaggeration.