I’m shocked — seriously — that you’ve gotten so many negative responses. I’ve lived in Kitsap County (just north of Tacoma for those unfamiliar w/ Puget Sound) pretty much since 1984 and I strongly agree with much of your article.

In fact, I’d add that as far as I can tell, of all the cities and communities in America, Bremerton (30 minutes from Tacoma) has the highest percentage of Filipino residents of any city in America. The largest mall in the state is Southcenter in Tukwila (30 minutes from Tacoma w/o traffic), and there’s an entire section of it that’s all Filipino-themed stores. And that’s just the Filipino community, not counting the Hispanics and Blacks and all the other Asians.

Are there racial tensions? Of course there are — but nothing like, say, down in Portland and especially not like where I grew up Down South. The only place in America where I’ve seen less racial tension is in Hawaii.