These two stories are part of the same phenomenon:

Is city's felons policy unfair to black cops? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: News

RULE 47 | Cop is warned after letting convicted man drive car

October 14, 2007 BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter/[email protected]

An African-American Chicago Police officer contends that a rule barring cops from associating with criminals discriminates against black officers.

The officer argues the rule is more restrictive on black officers because of the disproportionate number of African Americans who have had contact with the criminal justice system.

and

El Paso Times - Hispanics wary of effort to regulate home colors in Dallas suburb

By ANABELLE GARAY Associated Press Writer Article Launched: 10/10/2007 05:46:24 PM MDT

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas–Some residents of this Dallas suburb that tried to ban apartment rentals to illegal immigrants now want the city to regulate which colorful hues people can paint their homes.

Although the City Council hasn't decided whether to consider any house paint restrictions, Hispanic leaders say it's yet another effort to target Latinos in the city.

"I believe controlling the color you paint your house is basically profiling the Hispanic community," said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose family owns a Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch. "We all know who paints their homes tropical colors."

Two residents requested the council discuss mandatory exterior color standards for buildings.

I could prove that a red or pastel house may annoy neighbors even in a community where the people are all white and the houses are all kind of house colored. See Paint of View —The color of a house is a sign of owner individuality–and a test of neighborhood tolerance. , By Virginia Postrel, The Atlantic Monthly, June 2007. Or read, as Virginia Postrel suggested, the classic children's book Mr. Pine's Purple House. Nor is the rule against associating with felons uniquely a problem for the black community—if you saw the movie Prince of The City, (based on the real-life experiences of Detective Robert Leuci) you may remember it features a character named Daniel Ciello who's a policeman, and whose family includes a bunch of crooks. Everyone is Italian, and very white.

But it's the "disparate impact" theory again, in which any complaint about social pathologies which "happen" to be be worse in a minority community must be attributed to racism.