There's enough racism and kookery on both sides to go around. I was listening to 'This American Life' this weekend, and they were covering the refugees getting government funded housing. Their bus brought the predominantly black group to a nice apartment complex where everything had been taken care of, presumably, but when they got there, the two white clerks chattered nervously for 15 minutes before coming over and saying everyone needed to show their birth certificates and social security cards. The fact that most of the people didn't have this stuff since, well, they were refugees was lost on them. It was clear they didn't want 'those people' there.
Most of the group gets back on the bus. The bus goes to the next place, which is in a hispanic neighborhood. The building isn't as polished, but the community room has photos on the walls of sporting events, the table is loaded with food, drinks, pizza and so on put together by the community and there are welcome signs for the refugees. The people who stay just sign their names to the rental agreement and then get their apartments, furnished and equipped by the neighborhood. Really great stuff (my wife and I comment we'd rather live here because of the people), but some of the refugees get back on the bus. The reporter asks why, and one representative lady, one of the ones crying 'discrimination!' at the previous place, says that she's going to hold out better, because she 'doesn't want to live around no mexicans'.
It's almost enough to make you cry.
