[InChiefsHeaven]

Well, wuttamess, while I don't think you are going to get to 1k posts you've achieved a good goal here. In my case, as I mentioned, I saw this when I was a kid. And even then I pretty much got it. In my long hair metal days, I'd be followed around in grocery stores because I looked like trouble. The difference is, I could cut my hair, change my clothes and be model citizen, whereas a black person, or Hispanic or what have you, cannot do that. Fat people can lose weight, but women are women (unless they reeeeeally want to make that change, that's a whole other thing). So, while I realize that I'll never LIVE that life, I can say that I have an understanding of it.

Now here's the rub. It goes on everywhere. I remember during the LA riots that the largely black mobs were attacking Oriental owned businesses (Korean specifically if I remember right). If black people, who should KNOW better, are capable of such atrocities, it sort of contributes to the attitudes of some white people who say Hey, if it ain't right for us to do, it ain't right for you to do.

I'm not saying that YOU are saying it's right, but it's a lot deeper I think than just understanding what it's like to be picked on.

Anyway, I try not to see all black people through the same lens, same as any other people. I don't always pull it off. But at the end of the day, I know I don't hate anyone. For me, that's probably as good as it'll get.