It is indeed a very, very fine line. I think a lot of it has to do with the way that you phrase things. A lot of it also has to do with the difference between discussing cultures (which usually are described in terms of broad, simplified generalizations) versus how you discuss, describe, behave toward, and think about individuals.
Like, for example, I can say in general, ramen noodles are a popular and much-beloved food in Japan. But if I approach any individual Japanese person and say, "Oh hey you're Japanese, I bet you like ramen noodles!" Now I'm being racist. I also shouldn't talk about any individual Japanese person in similar terms. Like, I shouldn't say "Morita Masakazu must love ramen noodles because he's Japanese!" Because the very act of making those types of assumptions about a person based on a general characteristic of their culture denies individual experience and individual diversity within a culture.
Granted, issues like "cultural attitudes toward relationships" are much more complicated to discuss than my ramen noodles example. But that's kind of the gist of it.
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Like, for example, I can say in general, ramen noodles are a popular and much-beloved food in Japan. But if I approach any individual Japanese person and say, "Oh hey you're Japanese, I bet you like ramen noodles!" Now I'm being racist. I also shouldn't talk about any individual Japanese person in similar terms. Like, I shouldn't say "Morita Masakazu must love ramen noodles because he's Japanese!" Because the very act of making those types of assumptions about a person based on a general characteristic of their culture denies individual experience and individual diversity within a culture.
Granted, issues like "cultural attitudes toward relationships" are much more complicated to discuss than my ramen noodles example. But that's kind of the gist of it.