I Was So Naive!

Listening to all the talk about swearing in our first black president tomorrow, I began thinking about my only black childhood friend. I was raised in a small town in Colorado where there were Caucasians, Hispanics and a few Japanese families. There was one boy whose mother was Hispanic and his father was black. In junior high, we would occasionally have school dances in the gym. I would get pretty shy when a boy asked me to dance. My brother-in-law asked me who I danced with. When I told him I danced with S.W., along with other boys, he teased me mercilessly. After graduation from high school I moved to a larger city where there was a black population. That was in the late '50s so many rights were not available to all. Then, and only then, did it dawn on me.... that my b-i-l was teasing me about S.W. because he was BLACK. I had always thought he was teasing me about him because he was a BOY! Even to this day, it is hard for me to fathom the reality that blacks were not allowed to vote during those days. Here in Colorado discrimination didn't seem to be so intense as in some places,(this coming from someone incredibly naive about such things at the time). In the 60's a group came in to encourage the blacks in one of our cities to protest at various businesses. They were told, by the local black leaders, to leave. The locals could work anywhere they wished, at all the major places of employment, etc. I am glad we have reached this point in history although I would prefer a more conservative person.