Roll Call!

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75. I had a mind blowing experience when I was 14 by reading Dick Gregory and after that

Dr. King and Malcolm X (who actually is a very conservative person)(btw I met the Autobiography of Malcom X author Alex Haley in an airport).

I learned alot in an African American class in HS (unfortunately I was the only white guy in the class, but it was one of the most educational classes, for example: http://www.democraticunderground.com/122469 ) and continued to read a lot.

But it wasn't until I went to Asia for twenty years and ended up 'going native' that I began to understand what it is like to always be the 'odd looking person' in the group. During one two-year period I was the only American in the area where I lived and worked and I began to realize the constant pressure of always being observed when you are the one that can never blend in and just relax. I think most White people in the US would be astonished at the constant strain that exists when you just can't fade into a group, even when you are comfortable with the people in the group, but are more or less on stage. I got used to it eventually but I knew that profile was always there, and this was with Thais who are very pro Western and had nothing but positive feelings, to do it as some have to in a hostile atmosphere is really quite mind boggling. It gave me a small taste of what millions of AA kids go through in class, and adults in work environments.

That you would be so kind as to share that you always thought I was a brother makes me feel that all of that effort wasn't a waste of time.