Article January 18, 1988 Issue

Freedom from "passed down" prejudices

We can't afford to bow down to or be bowed down by racial prejudice. There's so much to find out about the real nature of each one of us.

Written for the Sentinel

I don't think I ever met a black child while I was growing up. If I did, I don't remember it. I grew up in a large suburb where, as far as I know, to this day there are no black families living. I remember a time when I had to stay home from school because there were riots going on downtown. The National Guard was called in. My parents kept a handgun near their bed, and we could hear distant gunshots coming from the city. After that we never went downtown at night and only occasionally during the day.

There was a black woman who took care of the children in our family. I loved her dearly and would run home from school at lunchtime, expectant of her gentle welcome. I remember what a hard worker she was and how she always sang while she worked. But there were confusing "jokes" now and then at the dinner table—not about her, but about black people in general. And there was talk about town ordinances to "keep them out."

College took me out of that white-tower community and brought me face to face with my own fears and racial prejudices. I felt tremendous anguish over these feelings and yearned to be free of them. I eventually found the basis from which I could challenge even the most ingrained racial prejudices. It came through the teachings of Christian Science and what they reveal about the nature of man. Those childhood impressions have gradually been shed. The many black friends—and those of other races—who have since become a part of my life continue to prove to me that racial hatred and even discrimination are not facts that must be either endured or merely tempered.

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Brotherliness
January 18, 1988
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