[tsearcher]

The way I see it, racism (or at least prejudice) is a natural human trait. If you are not from my tribe I'm suspicious of you. It's a defense mechanism. The fact that David even noticed the percentage of Blacks in town, tells you something. It was obviously an issue with him.

If you are around people you are comfortable with, then race isn't a real big issue. But when they are strangers it is. Las Vegas is a tourist town. People expect to see a lot of different people there. People expect to see a lot of races in the city of Chicago too. But if there is a Black picnic in a leafy white suburban park, the cops will be called. The same people that work with, and are even friends with plenty of black people will freak out when Black strangers are in their neighborhood.

For all you folks that claim that you are not racist, do a little thought experiment. Pretend you just got on the el and you are the only white person on the train, everyone is Black and you don't know them. How would you feel? Would you feel different if they were all Arab or Mexican? Can you honestly say you wouldn't feel more comfortable on a traincar full of strangers your own race?

So, back to the OP. As Blacks as a community gained more rights and affluence they were seen more on TV, able to travel more and visit places like Las Vegas. White America become more used to seeing them in places like Las Vegas. That's all what happened. Human Beings are perfectly capable of disliking more than one group of people.