Farmers Branch, Texas has spent over $1M in legal fees over the past 2+ years in defense of its attempts to ban illegal immigrants from renting places to live in the North Dallas suburb. Maybe it’s racist, maybe it’s patriotic and lawful, but there is no arguing that it’s anything other than discriminatory. Based on race or economic class, I can’t say.
Defining agreed-upon concepts like “racism” and “discrimination” or “prejudice” is not possible. Stereotyping, however, is pretty cut and dried. Lots of negative connotations to that word, but the reason we do it is to simplify and quicken the decision and judgement processes.
Stereotypes are frequently based on observed reality, which is what makes them such daunting foes. The stereotypes of African slaves fresh off the boat and into the fields molded the minds of several generations of Americans, and it’s fairly obvious that stereotypes take longer to undo than to get established in the first place.
