Leonel had no idea what was going on so far away from himself. It was true that he had never considered the possibility that someone would try to form diplomatic relations with the Oryx, but this was mostly because of how unlikely that it was.
The Oryx were not human. This was maybe the most important reason. Though racism wasn't very prevalent amongst humans any longer—at least not in Leonel's experience—that was only because it was replaced by another sort of race war, one between species.
Unfortunately, no matter where you were, racism was an almost inevitable part of life. There was nothing people liked to do more than participate in tribalism. The grotesque part of it all was that it was rooted in good. People had the inherent want to be connected and feel connected to one another. It was just unfortunate that this good was often twisted and contorted into what Leonel believed to be the ugliest thing in the world.
