THANK YOU, TYRONE

[Samantha]

37. This is a wonderful post - I am sorry I just now spotted it

This reminds me of another incident I experienced later in life. I married and a couple of years after the wedding, my former husband insisted we move from DC to the area where he grew up. He wanted his child, my 4 year old daughter, to experience the freedom of growing up in a rural area as opposed to a huge metropolitan area like DC, where children are often harmed by crime.

We moved to a small town in West Virginia. The day we actually moved, as we followed the moving van down the road I asked where were the African-Americans, I had not seen anyone but Caucasian people. He said the few in the area preferred to live together in an area about 10 miles from there. I knew what he was saying. This town was still segregated. I had no idea segregation continued to exist.

Eventually I found a job in a large town nearby and became best friends with one of the few African-American women who worked there. We continue to be great friends to this day. However, I hosted a party at my home at which parents and children were both welcome. One of my daughter's young friends whispered in her ear a message that my daughter was to convey to me. I felt her pull at the bottom of my dress and motion for me to lean down and listen. "Nicole's mom says they have to leave because you have a Black person in our house," my daughter said. Please keep in mind she was about 5 and was just repeating what she was told to say and had no sense of the implication. The Black person visiting my house was my new best friend and her daughter.

When I heard my daughter say this, I was horrified. I whispered back to her, "Well, I am sorry her mom feels that way but Vicki is my good friend and I am certainly not going to ask her to leave." A couple of minutes later Nicole and her mom left. When my daughter became older, I discussed this incident with her, and we covered prejudice in-depth.

It is amazing to me that people can still voluntarily harbor prejudice against people with different skin colors than their own; but it is wonderfully encouraging to know some like you have delivered children who have zero perception that people should be treated differently for skin color alone.

I too hope Tyrone finds my words, and I thank you for posting on my thread.

Sam