I believe there has been a little misconception over time regarding Ulfric Stormcloak's treatment of Dark Elves in Windhelm.
He enforces a policy of segregation upon the Dunmer restricting them to reside in the Gray Quarter. That's simply a matter of fact notwithstanding the repeated failed attempts of some players to assert to the contrary. An apartheid policy regarding living arrangements is inherently racist regardless of what level of malice one might ascribe to its enforcer in chief, which is the Jarl of Eastmarch.
Unlike the other Jarls of Skyrim he has allowed them to live as a community in his city.
Equating an enforced segregation policy to some form of enlightenment requires a twisted view of what is going on with regards to the Dunmer in Windhelm and is like saying the cities in the southern states of the US during the early twentieth century forcing black people to the back of the bus was an enlightened form of allowing them to live as a community.
Many may argue he's segregated them from other townspeople, thus, he must distrust them or be prejudiced himself. Do we know this to be true, or is it merely convenient for those of us who detest him to claim as such?
The only posts I've read that claimed it's because he distrusts them are from apologists for Ulfric as justification for segregating them to the Gray Quarter, and it makes absolutely no sense because the Dunmer are free to move about the city the same as everyone else. To the extent he suspects them of doing something detrimental to the security of the city or Hold the segregation policy does nothing to address it. If he enforces the segregation policy rather than rescinding it with a simple edict that speaks for the fact that he believes in the policy which speaks to his racial prejudice.
Perhaps, this segregation is purely for the Dunmer's own comfort and or protection. We've seen examples of Nord harassment in game that may support this theory.
Again residential segregation does absolutely nothing to protect the Dunmer from such actions. Suvaris is harrassed outside the Gray Quarter which underscores this rather obvious fact.
The Altmer shop vendor, when questioned even eludes to the fact that the Dunmer's stubborn attitude may very well be what's holding them back in Windhelm.
Calling something a fact doesn't magically make it so, particularly when it's clearly mere opinion. That aside, it's completely irrelevant to the segregation of the Dunmer. That's by law and only one person can make that otherwise.
She seems to be thriving, so for a man who supposedly detests any Elf alive, it raises an interesting question. Why allow an Altmer, no less, a home and business and deny the same to a Dunmer out of racial reasoning? It just doesn't add up to me personally.
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you have no clue how Niranye makes her living notwithstanding that it's implied in dialogues between her and other NPC's even if you never did the Thieves Guild quest line. A substantial portion of her trade is
illegal. She deals in stolen and smuggled goods and contraband in general, and, if you do the Thieves Guild quest line, for the Thieves Guild in particular.
In addition Dunmer aren't fungible with the Altmers in examining their situation in Windhelm. That's a straw man. Ulfric's segregation policy is limited to the Dunmer, not all Mer. Equating the two races, observing that he doesn't segeregate the Altmer, and then concluding that it speaks to anything regarding his prejudices against the Dunmer is a logical fallacy.
Last, as further proof that Niranye's opinion is merely just that, there are in fact successful Dunmer in Windhelm. Belyn Halaalu is a farm owner who is successful enough to employ a Nord farmhand. Notwithstanding his success, he is consigned to live in the Gray Quarter.
The way I see it if Ulfric hates the Dunmer that much, why has he not kicked them out?
There seems to be this misguided notion among players that in order to harbor racist attitudes and enforce racist practices, one has to be rabidly racist and go to great extremes. This probably goes to the heart of the matter as to why some players who like or otherwise defend Ulfric go into denial about his racist policy regarding the Dunmer notwithstanding what the game content irrefutably presents to the player. His prejudices simply aren't that inflamed and the mildness of the policy reflects that. If it were otherwise he would have far more extreme restrictions imposed on the Dunmer and might not even have to kick them
out as they would find such conditions rapidly intolerable and leave on their own. The fact that they don't only reinforces the notion that the impact of the policy, while insulting and racially prejudiced, is relatively tolerable for them which is why they continue to reside in Windhelm. It also speaks to the fact that Ulfric isn't some kind of despicable ogre for enforcing segregation in Windhelm. It speaks badly of his character but in a manner that is as mild as the policy
itself. There are certainly things in the game one can discover that reflect exponentially more badly on his character than the Dunmer policy in Windhelm.
...he feeds and shelters them...
He doesn't feed and shelter them. The Dunmer's pay for their own upkeep the same as any other resident of Windhelm.
Perhaps as refugees, they should be a little more gracious, after all, it's a long walk back to Morrowind and nobody will beg them to stay.
Their status as refugees is irrelevant. They've been living in Windhelm for over a hundred years. They're not under any obligation to be any more gracious than any other resident and they contribute to the society as citizens the same as any other.
Scourge of the Gray Quarter simply doesn't comport with the reality of Windhelm as presented by the game content. The Dunmer in Windhelm do earn their livelihoods the same as any other citizen. Torbjorn Shatter-Shield certainly doesn't have any parental affection for his Argonian employees. The fact that much of what's claimed in the book is refuted by what one observes in Windhelm should tell you everything you need to know about it's reliability as an objective source of information.
