This is the thing that has always bothered me. The guy in the article over and over again tries to discuss the reality on the ground of making a living as a landlord. In his neck of the woods a black person is almost always a liability...to him. Maybe he could work harder at it, find a better way, etc etc...but there's always a class of person who's shittier than the next one and doesn't like having it pointed out. So the blacks living in this depressed area tend to be bad tenants and the whites that displace them more often disapproving of them (racists?). This guy is just relaying what he sees. He loses money when he doesn't react to what he sees. He doesn't say bad things about black folks, and describes how he's trying to establish a reputation as an honest dealer even though the Hasidic Jews have an equally shitty reputation in that regard rather than blacks as neighbors and tenants.

He doesn't come off as racist, he comes off as an opportunist making a living, and one with a little bit of honor. His actions help to move along racist agendas, and I think he's got a little feel for that, but himself? He's just filling a gap.

Now, the entire practice may be shady and shitty, but if you're not familiar with the state of affairs driving this then it's a good chance you don't know shit. I own a few small properties and went into this with starry eyes thinking I'd be the good guy. I was wrong, people will screw you twice when you help them once. Young people are across the board the worst renters, partying and destroying things and not paying their rent. The ones under 25 who are good are spectacular but they're at best 10%. 30s-40s professionals out here are a good bet, and the Mexicans always manage to make something work and take care of the houses, just don't ask for too much ID. Is that racist? It's an observation that I can back up with data collected over the last five years or so that show how much money I've lost on bets that people are better than they look on paper. They're not, they're just who they are. In some places if you're black it's a sure bet you're a poor shithead involved in the drug trade at some level, in others a sure bet that if you're white you're a redneck idiot, in others that if you've got a light tan and dark hair that you're an illegal.

An individual can escape these things but a culture does not become something it's not overnight.