You're right. Minorities edged up a few percentage points this past census. We are still a relatively homogeneous community though.
I think the biggest difference between you and I is not our generally liberal political positions, but our perspective. A pragmatic perspective accepts what has happened, accepts the statistics. An idealogical person believes that history can be re-written, that we can all live somehow in peace and happiness. Please, don't be that idealogical guy. We already have one of those (Liberal).
And before I go further, please note that my real problem is not with the American black race, but rather with their pervasive culture.
"I think we need to accept the change in reality and hopefully, unlike in ages past, be able to live with our diversity.
If we keep the mindset Black=Criminal and Hispanic=Illegal we will not go anywhere"
You see Dee, diversity is not black and white and if history lends a lesson, most black communities are highly undesirable.
And rightly so. Just as you just alluded to, blacks overall across the nation have posted incredible crime rates, horrible academic standings, and poor maintenance of their communities. Need I not get into the raw faceless statistics?
Is that how diversity is supposed to work? Because I don't know any reasonable person that wants to live in the aforementioned environments. Populations self-segregate, and that's not without reason and it shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing (unless you're a hardcore candy-ass liberal). And I don't think Granite is going to somehow be revolutionary and break the trend.
If this town heads the wrong direction, good middle-class people will leave for greener pasture atop the hill, and this town will go the way of West Belleville and eventually North City.
So you go on believing that somehow that tide of history will be broken here. The people who built Pruitt-Igoe believed that, as did the founders of Cabrini Green and the early leaders of StL. You see where that got them? Enjoy your version of "diversity" lol. I won't take that route. We don't need another dysfunctional culture to bring down our town.