I grew up with Black kids as friends my entire life. My best friend in 1st grade was a Black boy in my class My 2nd best friend was a Hispanic boy. My 3rd best friend was an Asian girl. In first grade! My parents would let me walk home from school to their houses (this was in the 1970s). I learned about these 3 cultures from my elementary school friends’ families, which I’m so grateful for.

The rude awakening came by the time I hit high school. Kids in high school and college can and are SO racist, when they don’t grow up in a family environment where tolerance of all races is the norm. I remember eating dinner at my friend Kyle’s when I was 8 years old. His older siblings and his parents just accepted me — this little while girl — for who I was, not b/c I was white. They taught me about soul food, gospel music, and were really nice to me and I always felt happy at Kyle’s house. But the kids I went to high school with — rich white kids who never experienced racial diversity and were just complete assholes to any minority students who were enrolled there. I’ll never forget it. Same story at my college; despite the racial diversity, racist white kids galore there from wealthy families. My best friend in college was a Black gal from Detroit. She was so much fun! We were great friends.

I have zero tolerance for racists. Maybe that makes me as bad as the racists? That I won’t tolerate bigotry?