A Little White Lie

​I have written about my frustration with the direction of our hyper sensitive politically correct culture; the snowflake students seeking sanctuary on campus because someone's speech 'upset' them; the mischaracterization of caucasian police, politicians, and people like me as 'racist, xenophobic bigots' and the attempt to redefine and undermine the basic tenets of our constitutional foundations.

Then I saw this letter circulating online and thought, wow, I can relate to this!

"My property manager said he had a new candidate for my recently vacated rental home. It is a modest 3 bedroom, one story house that happens to be near the State college, so I can get a decent rental fee that almost covers my mortgage. I have had three students in there for the past three years but they have all graduated and moved on.

So my property manager contacted me when this new prospect submitted an application. He said he had the application in hand, that it was very complete and that based on the normal protocols, this guy and his sister would qualify. They intend to make it their main residence and are willing to sign a two year lease agreement.

I said, so why are you calling me?

He texted me a picture of the guy. I know if I reacted normally, I will be in jeopardy of violating renter discrimination laws. But my natural response was to say, "are you kidding me?"

I am an older, white guy, with enough savings to invest in a rental property, and who has for over sixty years lived a life of peaceful coexistence with all of my neighbors and fellow Californians. I subscribe to the Dutch idea of live and let live!

Just because I am a white male, I am constantly accused of being afraid of the changing color of the neighborhood. That is total BS. Some of the biggest jerks I know are white, but I put up with them anyway, because they are my oldest friends…

I don't care where you went to school, what color your skin is or what you and your friends do in the bedroom. All I care about is, can you make the payments on time? Will you take care of the place and not bother the neighbors?

But I must admit, I cannot live with this guy living in my neighborhood. He may well be the nicest man on earth, but his persona is what bothers me. Why would a 'nice' man want to make himself look so evil? Who is he trying to intimidate?  The facial tattoos are not like putting color in your hair, or eyeliner or even lip rings. The message this guy is sending is unmistakable anger and hostility.

So I told my PM to tell him the place had already been rented. I know, that is a Little White Lie, but what am I supposed to do? I do not want to be a target of a discrimination suit, but I am the property owner and I do make value judgements based on my own financial exposure and safety. I have to be discriminating! I don't want to have the Symbionese Liberation Army moving in.

My PM said he understood, then immediately resigned…I think he thought I was referring to an army of simian apes. He is only 27 years old, so I guess I can forgive him."


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