New Neighbors

One of the new homes in our neighborhood was recently sold and a new family moved in over the past weekend. The family is black. I realized this is the first time in my life that I have had a black neighbor. I was in junior high school before I had a black class mate. There were only 2 in a school size of several hundred. Blacks did not live in the part of town that I did. In fact, there was a neighborhood called "colored holler" where all blacks in my county lived.

Terri was brought up in a different environment. During her childhood in Memphis, she was the minority. Living with black neighbors is nothing new to her.

Racism was blatant, even though I never saw "whites only" signs during my childhood. My father would have a reacted very negatively if blacks had moved into the old neighborhood in Shawnee. My father was a quiet racist. He was not overtly racist, he did not burn crosses, but he did hold blacks in low esteem simply because they were black. That was a different time. In that time, a black family moving into a neighborhood brought concerns over crime, fears of declining property values, and even hate. My father would have reacted the same way most white people reacted to blacks in those days.

I feel good that I don't have those concerns about my new neighbors. Terri and I introduced ourselves to them last Sunday afternoon and delivered a fresh-baked chocolate cake. We found both to be pleasant and friendly. One is the chaplain for Providence Medical Center nearby.

Still, I wonder if I am really different than my father? Are we both reacting in the manner our cultures consider acceptable? Or am I really different?