Watching Obama on TV last night to calling out the Boston cop for acting "stupidly" was so satisfying, and the cop's response to Obama—STFU, essentially (he realizes the president's sorta his boss,* right?)—is galling. And typical. And of a piece with this American moment. My family's full of soft racists like that. The city of Seattle is full of soft racists like that. The other day, a friend with a very well-paying job in a corporate office building downtown got this note from building management:

Dear Tenants,

Yesterday, an Afro-American couple was entering different tenant suites saying that they were looking for a lawyer or other services that our tenants provide. During that time period a wallet was stolen from the reception area in one of our tenant’s suite.

After one of our tenants reported the odd behavior of the couple, our security tracked them down and talked to them. Nothing looked suspicious at that time. The couple said they were lost while looking for a tenant in the building.

Please, do not leave any valuable items unattended or where they can be seen. Unfortunately we can’t control who is coming into the building. During these economic times people with bad intentions can get very creative.

Please inform us immediately if anything looks suspicious to you. Security or one of our engineers can assist within minutes.

You can contact our office at 206.448.5655 or by email at laurentia.barbu@cbre.com

Your property management team!

Unbelievable. Try as you might, you just never know what "Afro-Americans" are up to! They said they were "lost"—we all know what that probably means! Man, those "Afro-Americans" sure are crafty! Everyone keep an eye out! For, you know, any "Afro-Americans"! Note that there's literally no other information about these people—was it two men? Two women? A man and woman? Teenagers? Old folks? The sole identifying detail is that they were "Afro-Americans."

And how about that upbeat last sentence? "Your property management team!" That kind of corporate exuberance, matched with the human ugliness of what comes before it, kills me.

UPDATE: I called the property management company that sent this memo to get their side of this story. The woman acknowledged the existence of the memo but said, "There's no comment, sorry."

* People in comments are pointing out that Obama's not his boss. Agreed, horrible way to express what I was trying to suggest, which is that they're both comrades in the business of executing laws—in the executive branch—though of course one's local and one's federal.