Of course it has to be race, why wouldn't it be?
I honestly didn't even *think* race until someone here posted the association. I thought "big dude needlessly beating the hell out of little dude."
I wonder if it's a function of age. I've had countless run-ins with race issues. I can't count how many times I've been called something slang for "white dude" downtown. Yet race isn't an issue to me, I just classify those individuals a spank-offs. Not black-spank-offs, just spank-offs. Color to myself and most of those I know is just an attribute, much like hair length, eye color, and build. Eh, we still need another 50 years or so. The hardcore race issues are mostly gone, but there's still a lot of apprehension.
EDIT. That said, what the hell? It sucks going downtown because of that crap!
-Jeff