What's to be learned from negative stereotypes, and what's happened to all the Americans?

This is a subject that's been weighing on my mind for a couple of weeks now. Ever since I heard the story of a respected friend who was blind-sided and subsequently beat up by two individuals of a particular ethnicity (hint: there are, according to official government estimates, somewhere on the order of 12 to 20 million of 'em here who are illegal).

Stereotype numero uno: This particular ethnicity is prone to run in packs, and they are purported to consider one-on-one physical confrontations as "no bueno" for themselves. hmmm.

So as the story goes, there was this get-together at a friend of the friend's house. A friend of the friend of the friend invited a couple of low-life vagabonds to the "party." At some point a friend of my friend, seeing the stereotypical "thieves" written all over these two, announced to the room that nothing had better go missing from his house. There were a few unfriendly words tossed about, and the two finally left. Later in the night after most everyone else had left, the two returned, announcing their presence with a well aimed rock through a window. My friend and the two others in the house rushed to and opened the door, to find one of the individuals standing at the edge of the street goading my friend to come to him. As my friend (ill-advisedly, but nonetheless) walked off the front porch and aggressively approached this individual, the other sprung from his hiding place at the corner of the house, hitting him with a blow to the side of the head which knocked him down and more or less temporarily immobilized him. Then the two began to kick my friend in the head and the upper torso.

Rule numero uno: Never, never, never allow an opponent to goad you into taking an aggressive posture in his territory; there's always some reason, advantageous to himself, that he's calling you to him. If you don't believe me, try this: Calmly reply to his invitation: "No; you come here." Nine times out of ten he won't. Guaranteed.

Where were the other two, you may be asking. Well, as I understand it, they remained comfortably on the porch as spectators. Neither the fact that my friend was blindsided by the hidden one, nor that once down he was attacked by both prompted either of them to action of any kind, in word or deed. I'm no tough guy, but I can assure you that the outcome would have been much different had I been there. And that's a fact! Sometimes you just put it all out there with no regard to personal safety or well being. Anything else is ... unAmerican! And you can quote me on that.