Although xenophobic hate against the Amish exists in areas with high Amish population, hypothesize that the hate is tempered by the established custom of the Rumspringa, known and understood by both sides.
The custom provides an explicit and accepted mechanism for an Amish person to leave their community, and thus for intermarriage to occur, and it does occur.
The existence of this mechanism has perhaps saved the Amish from being exterminated by the all-too-common progression from xenophobic hate to genocide. Or, more pessimistically, perhaps similar groups without such a tradition did get genocided, leaving surviving only this group which does.
Can the Rumspringa serve as a model to ease other societal tensions, most notably racial tensions?
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