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OK I'm here for a class. I'm black. I'm one of maybe five visitng blacks on the entire island. The place is beautiful. I'm staying at the Grand Hotel--one of the best on the island. I was stunned to walk into the dining room, a 10,000 square foot or so room, full of rich white people and black servants lined up as far as the eye can see--not one white servant.
I didn't know places like this existed anymore. It was like stepping back in time.
I sat through a class today here at the resort today where the facilitator used Clinton as the example of moral integrity ("...meaning of is..") and read an article from the New York Times about Bush and Kerry being unable to tell the truth about the economy or to fix it. The moran stopped short of saying he was going to vote for *. I am going to let him know in my evaluation that I don't appreciate the topic during a class my company pays for.
Back to dinner. The live orchestra played through dinner and ended with a flourish of patriotic songs like You're a Grand Old Flag. The patrons clapped and retired to the block-long veranda for mint juleps.
I share this experience because witnessing the stark contrast here seems like a microcosm of the growing class divide as well as the ongoing racial divide. I am amazed and I know if anybody can understand why it's other DUers.
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