Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends.
Crooks said sharply, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”
– John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men, Chapter 4. For what seems to be the first time ever, someone – Lennie – is trying to be friends with Crooks, a black man who knows all about isolation and discrimination. Not being used to a white man being kind to him, Crooks views Lennie as a threat and becomes defensive.