Are boomers racist?

Of course I can only speak from my own experience. I went to a suburban Philadelphia High School where blacks dominated the basketball team and whites dominated the baseball team. In nearby Delaware there was forced busing to achieve integration in the schools and no one liked that. My college experience was similar.

I watched the race riots on TV, watched Blacks march in the south and in Washington, remember the day Martin Luther King was murdered and the afternoon on my Elementary School bus that I learned JFK has been shot. I flew into L.A a few days after the Rodney King riots and saw the smoke plumes rising from the city. I vividly remember George Wallace on TV blocking the entrance to the school and even as a teenager knew his behavior was reprehensible and could not believe an elected official would act in such a pathetic manner.

I am very liberal in many ways and conservative in many too. I defy easy political classification. I think that many Blacks in the public eye have overplayed the 'discriminated against' card hand too long and I really am tired of hearing about it. My ancestors were southern plantation owners, so there's a history of exploiting blacks in my family tree which makes me especially sensitive to the black experience in the U.S. I respect success in the face of adversity. Very few of us have easy lives and very few are born with silver spoons in their mouths. Most of us dislike whiners and are proud of our successes. I have listened carefully to Reverend Jeremiah Wright's words and believe he's the target of a smear campaign to discredit Barack Obama. Let's face it the black experience is completely different than the white experience, just like the Chinese experience is different than the white experience.

Boomers experienced a lot. Vietman, the civil rights movement, assassinations, riots in the streets, the 60's, Presidential resignations, drugs, the oil embargo, the .com boom, the hostage crisis, the cold war, forced busing and the list goes on. We have every right to be pessimists, but most are not. We're a resilient bunch I'd say. Unfortunately we've seen many blacks at their worst and regrettably we've seen many whites at their worst too.

I come in contact with some pretty racist people from time to time and these people like any people are not without their attributes. I do not dislike them, but feel sorry that have not been exposed to the diversity that I have been so lucky to experience. I have been fortunate that I have traveled this country and the world and have come in contact with many races and I do welcome diversity although I feel most comfortable around people who share my interests and cultural background. If I do not want someone with a different cultural background as a neighbor it's not because I don't like them, it's because I feel more comfortable around people like myself. However I do know from experience that forcing people together typically engenders a better understanding or dislike for one another.

Water seeks it's own level as do people.