I can certainly see why you would be pessimistic about it. It doesn't sound like you have to decide immediately on what to do--it definitely sounds like y'all are still feeling one another out, and it seems like one of those "correct course as you go" type deals. The fact that he's still open to pushback is hopeful (somewhat), so....cautious optimism to slight pessimism seems best.

He's not an anti-Semite, is he? That's a whole other world of problems.

The assumption that the one minority they know = representative of ALL minorities is really irksome with conservatives, especially older conservatives. It's always convenient that the minority they know is the Boomer equivalent of Milo Yiannopoulos or Clarence Thomas.