"That guy was a sick puppy!"  Gee.  Wonder what he thought about you?  

Anyway, J.Mike, believe you may be correct. Not just about race, either. Once lived in a townhouse strata development where a handful of "young families" petitioned the council for costly playground equipment--when parks were just a short drive away.  I tried to "reason with" them about the issue.  Sneered one father, "You just HATE kids!" unaware that I had three of my own...  Nope. These people had an agenda, were determined to see it through to victory, and no amount of "reasoning" was gonna sway them! So much for "majority rule." The equipment went up and--for a variety of reasons--so did the For Sale sign in front of our townhouse.

It's at the heart of the Sir John A. MacDonald "name" issue, too. Even more ridiculous, because certain passionate, well-meaning but misguided souls are confusing our 21st century values with the values of 150 years ago.  Ridiculous.  But just try to "reason" with them...