Talk about changing times. I remember like it was yesterday...
I didn't have any preconceived notions about black people. My dad worked with black men. He often remarked how much easier his work would be if everyone who worked with him worked as hard as the black men. As I child I was sorely tempted when my dad's company Christmas party came around to ask everyone assembled why they didn't work as hard as the black men did. Childhood innocence or stupidity? You decide.
We lived in a small town middle class neighborhood when they were divided by race. Behind our house was the town cemetary. On the other side were the black neighborhoods. We didn't really have a lot of contact till that day when the Supremes decided we should all go to school together.
I found out pretty quickly that black kids were just kids, the same as whites. Some were ok, and some were not, but I couldn't see that race had anything to do with that. Because I played basketball and ran track I soon found out that both races could teach each other a thing or two about sports. The white kids played a more disciplined game, and the black kids more spontaneous. It quickly became evident to me that if playground teams were divided between blacks and whites that I wanted to play with the blacks.
Later, I was the only white kid on the basketball team. What I learned from the black kids made me a better player. And maybe a better person. I found myself socializing with a mixture of races between classes and after school.
A white friend wouldn't stop picking on a black friend in class and it led to a gang fight at recess that divided up by race. Knowing the black friend was right, I fought on his side against some of my white friends. After the fight, some of my white friends became my ex white friends.
I guess the whole experience taught me a valuable lesson I could have learned from paying more attention to the way my dad approached life. A man was a man, regardless of his color, until he showed you differently.
Some of you have stories that would probably make this sound trivial. Let's hear em.
I didn't have any preconceived notions about black people. My dad worked with black men. He often remarked how much easier his work would be if everyone who worked with him worked as hard as the black men. As I child I was sorely tempted when my dad's company Christmas party came around to ask everyone assembled why they didn't work as hard as the black men did. Childhood innocence or stupidity? You decide.
We lived in a small town middle class neighborhood when they were divided by race. Behind our house was the town cemetary. On the other side were the black neighborhoods. We didn't really have a lot of contact till that day when the Supremes decided we should all go to school together.
I found out pretty quickly that black kids were just kids, the same as whites. Some were ok, and some were not, but I couldn't see that race had anything to do with that. Because I played basketball and ran track I soon found out that both races could teach each other a thing or two about sports. The white kids played a more disciplined game, and the black kids more spontaneous. It quickly became evident to me that if playground teams were divided between blacks and whites that I wanted to play with the blacks.
Later, I was the only white kid on the basketball team. What I learned from the black kids made me a better player. And maybe a better person. I found myself socializing with a mixture of races between classes and after school.
A white friend wouldn't stop picking on a black friend in class and it led to a gang fight at recess that divided up by race. Knowing the black friend was right, I fought on his side against some of my white friends. After the fight, some of my white friends became my ex white friends.
I guess the whole experience taught me a valuable lesson I could have learned from paying more attention to the way my dad approached life. A man was a man, regardless of his color, until he showed you differently.
Some of you have stories that would probably make this sound trivial. Let's hear em.
