Racism / Historical realignment

Subject: Racism  / Historical realignment.

Racial issues abound throughout our society but it is invariably seen as white on black issue in so far as reportage goes. The white section of society is thought not to understand the complexities of foreign cultures and rides roughshod over the sensitivities of the minority. There is no doubt that sections of our society hold a grievance against what is seen as foreign influence, conspicuous in all manner of things, shops, dress code religious institutions, language and so on. Societies or tribal tradition which a few decades ago would consider someone from another culture an oddity have now to accept the fact that 'they' have become the odd man out.

 There is a program on television which portrays County Court Bailiffs knocking on house doors trying to effect payment for debts which have gone through the court system and  have the weight of the law behind there collection. Often  a settlement plan is agreed with an immediate  cash payment of part of that which is owing with the balance to follow. If not, articles of value are removed from the home in lieu of cash. 

Attitudes of those faced with immediate payment vary from embarrassment to anger, from huffing and puffing to the desperation when no money is available. Today we saw something different, the effect of a racially identified ghetto community drawing together and threatening the enforcement officers with violence if the offices didn't leave their "brothers and sister" alone. They drew their conclusions of some sort of exclusivity from the law because of their ethnicity and religious affiliation, and an assumption that the whites were picking on them for who they were. It was also a  rejection of officialdom. Any official, the housing officer who checks on the number of people living under one roof, the police to, in this case, the County Sheriffs were the community enemy.
The word was soon around and men began to gather threatening that "we the community will not comply and that a riot will be the result if the officers don't go".
The Sheriffs, visibly worried backed out.
This little scenario is replicated all over the country. Pockets of culturally rather than economically disenfranchised people who see themselves as outside the mainstream culture, gives them a reason to step away and consider themselves special.
The definition of racism. 'prejudice, antagonism, discrimination, directed against someone of a different race' was clearly in evidence here, this time enacted by the minority. I suppose it will be  called something different, historical realignment maybe.
But clearly, in a nut shell, it's a phenomenon practised by both sides and we would do well to remember that as society changes numerically, we will see more, not less, historical realignment.