I imagine its more difficult for some than others regardless of race. All things being equal; whatever makes you different in a setting with unenlightened people makes your life more difficult. George F. Will, for example, was quite at home when Republicans at least tried to be the smartest people in the room on a given subject. And when it comes to some matters, they are--military in most cases, the false utopia that many liberals seek to create, etc... However, when the GOP embraced the idiocy of xenophobia, fear, and false nationalism, Will found the atmosphere unwelcoming. He didn't get dumber; those around him did. So it happens to both the young and the old, the schooled and the dumb, etc...