From a San Jose Mercury News piece on how progressively-minded area high schools are sending their students to diversity camp:

Sixty-five Gunn High School students tackled an unusual homework assignment the other night: They scoured their brains for every stereotype they knew about African-Americans, Middle Easterners, Latinos, Asian-Americans, whites, gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

The harsh words -- 35 or more of them per group -- poured out until they covered huge sheets of paper hung on a large brick fireplace at a remote campsite. A day later, the "wall of ignorance and pain" was still posted -- a visual reminder of prejudices some of the students didn't even know they had.

Such was the Palo Alto students' indoctrination into Camp Anytown -- diversity training for high-schoolers. Learning to appreciate economic, gender and racial differences might seem like a no-brainer in multicultural, progressive Bay Area, but slights still can fester, and divisions can flourish here.

At Camp Anytown, a secluded forest setting in the mountains forms the backdrop for intensive sensitivity training:

Campers were uplifted with activities including group hugs and a campfire capped off with four verses of "Kumbaya."

And organizers frequently shouted for "rainbows" -- the command to scramble around the room until everyone was sitting next to someone of a different race, religion or gender -- and "two ups" -- the reminder that every critical comment must be countered with two positive remarks.

Students delved into serious discussions about how prejudices have held them back in life and how the fear of hate crimes curtails what they do and where they go.

An outdoor exercise Thursday afternoon, called "The Privilege Walk," showed how race, religion, class and sexual orientation have helped or harmed each camper.

In the exercise, students lined up shoulder to shoulder. An adult asked questions: Were your ancestors brought to the United States as slaves or indentured servants? Did you ever have to skip a meal because you did not have enough money?

Indicators of privilege -- being white or never going hungry -- allowed students to step forward. Students of color or those who lacked bare necessities stepped back.

After all the questions were asked, a white girl stood out in front. Several African-American and Latino classmates were scattered in the rear. Others were clumped in between. Sniffles and sobs echoed through the clearing, drowning out the singing birds.