GROWING UP AS A POOR BLACK CHILD

One advantage of being military is seeing the world at government expense.

Some people view this as a deterrent - living where people don't (gasp) speak English, where the value of your money changes daily, and customs/ holidays/foods are NOT North American.

I'd rather jump in and accept "their" ways; after all, aren't we the guests here? If you are invited to an Italian dinner, and demand baked beans, you're being more than a little bit rude. If you refuse to accept or even LEARN the rules of etiquette, you obviously need them more than anyone. And if the public concept of art/modestly/laws/personal hygiene are not what you grew up with, throwing dirty looks at everyone is not gonna make any kind of change, and just reinforces that Americans are arrogant.

And a lot of us ARE.

My kids were born in Manhattan (Kansas, not New York), Dusseldorf and Frankfort A.M., West Germany (back when there were two Germany's). All three began school in Honolulu (a melting pot of Asians) and graduated in Maryland (black majority). So much of their life they were the haole (literally 'foriegner' in Hawaii, although its come to mean 'white'), the kids with the odd shaped eyes and hair color, the white kids.

I had the opportunity of not finding a job easily because I was Caucasian - I'd be called in for an interview, look around the office, realize mine was the only white one skin in sight, and knew I wouldn't be hired.

So I get a little miffed when someone puts on their ethnicity. On the airplane, I sat next to a lovely couple - but they managed to communicate within the first minutes that I was the enemy.

And just because the color of my skin.

Children, can't we all live together as one?

PROUD TO BE RED WHITE AND BLUE

A friend of mine sent me an email entitled "Proud to be White", supposedly a defense speech made by actor Michael Richard (Kramer on "Seinfeld:) when he was on trial for making racial comments in his comedy act.

Please see "Proud To Be White" if you actually want to read it; the gist of it is why can everyone else can ave Black/Red/Brown/Etc Pride, but when whites do it, it's considered racist, etc. etc. etc.

I am a child of the 60's - I remember the riots in Watts especially since my brother-in-law was a firefighter in Los Angeles and was there. I remember Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches - I particularly remember his death.

Even in my lily-white high school, our two black students wore black arm bands and spoke passionately about black power. And most of us white kids thought that was great.

But it wasn't until 1983 that I actually understood racial discrimination.

That was when I first experienced it.

Living in Hawaii was incredible, and I loved everything about the islands... until I tried to get a job. And then, for the first time, I understood what Blacks/Hispanics/Asians/etc. were talking about.

I'd walk in with my resume, briefcase and power suit, take one look around and try very hard not to focus on the fact that my face was the only haole one there.

And then not get even a little bit of encouragement during the interview.

And would not get the job.

I could even understand the resentment; well-educated haoles came from the mainland, took the higher paying jobs over the locals for a couple of years while they 'vacationed', and then went right back to Minnesota or Vermont or Texas, and the money would then go to another Mainlander haoles.

But again, I don't think you can honestly understand racial prejudice until you have experienced it.

I know progress is being made. When my kids were in school, they never mentioned any color of the rainbow when talking about their friends, who did turn out sometimes to be Black, Hispanic or Asian..

And I LOVE the fact that my grandchildren are going to ask when they grow up a little bit more, "Hey, why was the election of President Obama such a big deal?"

But we still got a ways to go, a lot of ignorance to overcome, and until whites become a minority of the population here in the U.S.A., I think we better hold on any "White Pride" marches.