Thanks Wisewoman

Doh, I agree with NWTR - YOU ROCK!

Back in the late 70s, my Chicago suburb made the headlines due to racial discrimination - a major car dealership rudely refused to serve blacks, and it caused an uproar throughout Chicago. Our mayor made it worse by publicly stating on TV "I speak for all the citizens of this town - we don't want ANY blacks coming into our neighborhood."

Years later (1996) when my son was in junior high school, the mayor was still in office. He came to speak to the students. They were assembled in a large hall, and my son was sitting with his friend. His friend knew the story about the mayor. During a question/answer period, one of his friends stood up and asked "Why do you want to keep blacks out of our town?" The mayor was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say to the kids.

I was happy to know my son had a friend who wasn't afraid to stand up and speak out against racism. Unfortunately, my son and his friend received a detention for embarrassing the mayor. For a moment, I wished I hadn't told them about that incident back in the 70s, but it was a part of our history - that continues today.

Disclaimer - I'm not referring to the mayor of Chicago in this post. Mayor Daley is pretty cool in my book. I'm referring to the mayor of our village, who has since passed away.