and to your point...A woman recently called me (here in Georgia-go figure) and told me she was worried that Obama was "secretly Muslim".  I #%&* you not.  While I was busy trying to regain composure (that kind of #%$* makes me giggle) she got angry and informed me that:
"there was a black man in a little town in Southern Georgia who acted all Christian, but when he became mayor, it all came out.  He was really a Muslim but pretended to be Christian for many years just to be mayor!"
So, yes, there is a racial element here to say the very least.
As an aside, next time I have a great product idea/invention, I'll dispense with wondering "who would I sell this to?"  The answer is in my own backyard.