I grew up in Southern Nevada. From a very young age I was taught to treat all people with respect. I saw from my parents and grandparents that they treated all people alike. I noticed this mostly with people of influence; people that had money or were in leadership/powerful positions. My parents treated them just like they treated everyone else. Like normal people that needed to eat and sleep and use the bathroom, just like every other human on earth. All were alike to my parents.
We never talked about race and we didn’t apply stereotypes. My parents responded to people’s behavior, not to some uncontrollable characteristic. I grew up doing the same. At school I was only interested in having fun. I had to get good grades because I knew that’s what my parents expected, but otherwise I just wanted to play games and have fun.
In Las Vegas in the late seventies and early eighties there weren’t a lot of black people in the schools I went to, but there were some and I treated them just like all my other friends. I just want to have fun. I was bussed to a Sixth Grade Center called Mabel Hoggard and I noticed that the kids that walked to school were black kids. I remember one girl that was really tough and tall. She could hold her own on the basketball court so I always wanted to be on the same team as her. She was fun to be around, but she had a temper, so don’t cross her. I wanted her to be on my team because she was good at basketball, not because she was black. Her race had nothing to do with it. Her race had nothing to do with her being good at basketball, because there were plenty of other kids that were black but weren’t very good. I never cared what color her skin was, I just wanted to win at basketball and I knew I had a better chance if I was on her team.
At middle school, I noticed more black kids mainly because there were more kids in total. I was friends with some of them, but it was only because we shared interests. I never thought about race, it was never talked about. I was taught to treat everyone the same and to make friends based on their behavior.
For high school my parents moved us to a smaller town an hour west of Las Vegas called Pahrump. There were only 500 kids in grades 9-12 and I could count the number of black kids on one hand. One of my very first friends when I got to Pahrump was Marcus Haley. He and I met during football practice before school started and the first sleepover with a friend was at Marcus’s house. We were friends because we both liked football and had the same sense of humor. Marcus and I both liked MC Hammer, not because he was black, but because his music was awesome! Marcus was a black kid and I was a white kid, but we were friends because we liked the same things, football and MC Hammer.
I went through High School pretty much the same way I went through the younger grades. I excelled in the classroom, but I really loved sports. I also really like music so I was in the band and choir. This is one of the benefits of a small school; I could participate in whatever I wanted to. I didn’t have to specialize. I had friends from all the groups. And in all the groups there were all kinds of people. I never paid attention to or gave special treatment because of their race. We liked the same things and just had fun doing the things we both enjoyed. I had friends in choir, in band, in football, in biology class, in math class, in the drama club. If I slighted someone, it was because I was an immature (kinda cocky) high schooler who was sometimes mean, but it never had to do with someone’s race. It was based on behavior, usually because they did something that annoyed me.
My sophomore year I had a choir teacher that was a kind and funny black man, named Roy Stubbs. I enjoyed being in his class and he taught some great music to us kids. We had a black history assembly in which the choir performed. I never realized the honor it was at the time, but Mr. Stubbs picked me to recite the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. At the time I was excited to sing in the choir in front of the school and I was excited to read the speech. Looking back, I don’t really know why Mr. Stubbs wanted me to do it. There were black kids in the choir that could have done a great job and there were other white kids that were also excellent readers. I would like to think that he saw that I was friends with people from all backgrounds and I didn’t pay attention to race.
I tried to reach out to thank Mr. Stubbs for allowing me that experience, but he passed away before I decided to contact him. We were friends on Facebook and I hope in heaven I get a chance to talk to him and thank him for picking me.
To this day, I hope my children see that I treat all people alike. In my mind, I make associations with people based on their character. I will be kind to all, but I’ll make friends with people with whom I share interests. To me it doesn’t matter the color of your skin, what your religion is, or if English is your first language. All that matters to me is that you’re a good person who treats others kindly and with dignity. I build on what I have in common people. I don’t focus on what makes us different. Differences come up, but they are secondary to building on commonalities.
I have the same opinion that Morgan Freeman stated in a 60 minutes interview with Mike Wallace. He said,
In my life I have friends. I don’t differentiate them as black friends and white friends. They are both equally my friends.
Today it is especially helpful for us today to remember a part of that speech I read from Dr. King:
Let us rise up peacefully together to address injustice where it stands. Let white men stand up and defend their black brothers against police brutality and Let black men stand up and defend their white brothers against police brutality. Or rather, let good men stand together against the evil of police brutality!
I am grateful to have been raised in a home where my parents and grandparents taught me to treat all alike and to not pay any attention to someone’s skin color or backgrounds, but to choose good friends that can raise me up and whom I can help raise up to make good choices and make a better world.
Here is the vision of the world we strive for today as stated by Dr. King in his speech:
I think Dr. King would have been pleased with the way I was raised to see race, or actually to not see race, but to treat all alike and see all for who they truly are. Because we are all brothers and sisters to one God, our Heavenly Father.
We never talked about race and we didn’t apply stereotypes. My parents responded to people’s behavior, not to some uncontrollable characteristic. I grew up doing the same. At school I was only interested in having fun. I had to get good grades because I knew that’s what my parents expected, but otherwise I just wanted to play games and have fun.
In Las Vegas in the late seventies and early eighties there weren’t a lot of black people in the schools I went to, but there were some and I treated them just like all my other friends. I just want to have fun. I was bussed to a Sixth Grade Center called Mabel Hoggard and I noticed that the kids that walked to school were black kids. I remember one girl that was really tough and tall. She could hold her own on the basketball court so I always wanted to be on the same team as her. She was fun to be around, but she had a temper, so don’t cross her. I wanted her to be on my team because she was good at basketball, not because she was black. Her race had nothing to do with it. Her race had nothing to do with her being good at basketball, because there were plenty of other kids that were black but weren’t very good. I never cared what color her skin was, I just wanted to win at basketball and I knew I had a better chance if I was on her team.
At middle school, I noticed more black kids mainly because there were more kids in total. I was friends with some of them, but it was only because we shared interests. I never thought about race, it was never talked about. I was taught to treat everyone the same and to make friends based on their behavior.
For high school my parents moved us to a smaller town an hour west of Las Vegas called Pahrump. There were only 500 kids in grades 9-12 and I could count the number of black kids on one hand. One of my very first friends when I got to Pahrump was Marcus Haley. He and I met during football practice before school started and the first sleepover with a friend was at Marcus’s house. We were friends because we both liked football and had the same sense of humor. Marcus and I both liked MC Hammer, not because he was black, but because his music was awesome! Marcus was a black kid and I was a white kid, but we were friends because we liked the same things, football and MC Hammer.
I went through High School pretty much the same way I went through the younger grades. I excelled in the classroom, but I really loved sports. I also really like music so I was in the band and choir. This is one of the benefits of a small school; I could participate in whatever I wanted to. I didn’t have to specialize. I had friends from all the groups. And in all the groups there were all kinds of people. I never paid attention to or gave special treatment because of their race. We liked the same things and just had fun doing the things we both enjoyed. I had friends in choir, in band, in football, in biology class, in math class, in the drama club. If I slighted someone, it was because I was an immature (kinda cocky) high schooler who was sometimes mean, but it never had to do with someone’s race. It was based on behavior, usually because they did something that annoyed me.
My sophomore year I had a choir teacher that was a kind and funny black man, named Roy Stubbs. I enjoyed being in his class and he taught some great music to us kids. We had a black history assembly in which the choir performed. I never realized the honor it was at the time, but Mr. Stubbs picked me to recite the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. At the time I was excited to sing in the choir in front of the school and I was excited to read the speech. Looking back, I don’t really know why Mr. Stubbs wanted me to do it. There were black kids in the choir that could have done a great job and there were other white kids that were also excellent readers. I would like to think that he saw that I was friends with people from all backgrounds and I didn’t pay attention to race.
I tried to reach out to thank Mr. Stubbs for allowing me that experience, but he passed away before I decided to contact him. We were friends on Facebook and I hope in heaven I get a chance to talk to him and thank him for picking me.
To this day, I hope my children see that I treat all people alike. In my mind, I make associations with people based on their character. I will be kind to all, but I’ll make friends with people with whom I share interests. To me it doesn’t matter the color of your skin, what your religion is, or if English is your first language. All that matters to me is that you’re a good person who treats others kindly and with dignity. I build on what I have in common people. I don’t focus on what makes us different. Differences come up, but they are secondary to building on commonalities.
I have the same opinion that Morgan Freeman stated in a 60 minutes interview with Mike Wallace. He said,
Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man. And I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You’re not going to say, “I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.” Hear what I’m saying?
In my life I have friends. I don’t differentiate them as black friends and white friends. They are both equally my friends.
Today it is especially helpful for us today to remember a part of that speech I read from Dr. King:
In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence.
Let us rise up peacefully together to address injustice where it stands. Let white men stand up and defend their black brothers against police brutality and Let black men stand up and defend their white brothers against police brutality. Or rather, let good men stand together against the evil of police brutality!
I am grateful to have been raised in a home where my parents and grandparents taught me to treat all alike and to not pay any attention to someone’s skin color or backgrounds, but to choose good friends that can raise me up and whom I can help raise up to make good choices and make a better world.
Here is the vision of the world we strive for today as stated by Dr. King in his speech:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I think Dr. King would have been pleased with the way I was raised to see race, or actually to not see race, but to treat all alike and see all for who they truly are. Because we are all brothers and sisters to one God, our Heavenly Father.
Nice.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful words, so proud of you!
ReplyDelete