I'm not sure virtue signaling the correct term, but I don't think what he's talking about is actually very conscious. I think you're interpreting it as something too sinister. I live in a rural area and am an overweight middleaged caucasian male, so if I get pulled over in town by a cop that happens to also be an overweight middleaged caucasian male, there's a subconscious empathy that occurs because of our similarities, and the odds are, I won't get a ticket if it's over something trivial. Now do the exact same thing with a young black kid and the odds are his chances of getting the ticket is much higher. Many people would say it's racism, which it very well could be, but odds are the ticket comes from a lack of empathy due to a lack of relatability. When people in Europe see Kiev, the city and people look just like them and theirs and the subconscious empathy shoots way up.