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Article snippet: VALLEJO, Calif. — The question, I thought, was harmless enough. “Tell me how being in such a diverse community has influenced you in your life,” I asked Fred Hatfield as we sat at the counter of a diner here. By the time I met Mr. Hatfield, who is 60 and white, I had already asked numerous Vallejo residents the same question, for this story that I wrote. Vallejo is one of the most demographically diverse cities in the United States, and as a reporter covering race for The New York Times I wondered whether there was more harmony and understanding here than elsewhere in the country. Most of the answers I got were the ones you might expect. Diversity introduced residents to new foods, for instance; it allowed them to look past the stereotypes they see on television and get to know people as they are. But I got a dimmer view from Mr. Hatfield. He said that most of the “gangbangers” in Vallejo were people of color, and he thought that I, a black man, was up to no good when he first saw me. “There’s a lot of negativity involved with it, I’ll tell you right now,” Mr. Hatfield said of Vallejo’s diversity as he tucked into a $7.59 breakfast special of eggs over easy, toast, bacon and potatoes with chives. Mr. Hatfield’s disparaging remarks about minorities and his quickness to stereotype me underscored a truth about covering race in America as a black man: The story is never far from home. That usually means white people are extra polite with me when giving their thoughts... Link to the full article to read more